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The  Parent's  Library 

Nine  Volumes,  Uniformly  Bound.    12  mo. 
Cloth.      Per   Volume,   $1.50 


First    Steps   in    Child    Training 

By    PROFESSOR    M.    V.    O'SHEA 

The   Trend   of   the   Teens 

By    PROFESSOR    M.    V.    O'SHEA 

The  Faults  of  Childhood  and  Youth 

By    PROFESSOR    M.    V.    O'SHEA 

Everyday  Problems  in  Child  Training 

By    PROFESSOR    M.    V.    O'SHEA 

Putting  Young  America  in  Tune 

How   to   Teach   the    Child    Appreciation 
of  Music 

By    HENRIETTE    WEBER 

The  Home   Guide   to   Good   Reading 

With   Notes 

By    PROFESSOR    DAVID    HARRISON 
STEVENS 

Tlie   Proper   Feeding   of    Infants 

By  W.  H.  GALLAND,  M.  D. 

Diseases   of   Infancy   and    Childhood 

By  W.  H.  GALLAND,  M.  D. 


Maternity  and  Infant  Care 

jives    of    Mothers    and     CI 
How    We   Can    Save    Them 

By  W.   H.  GALLAND,  M.  D. 


The    Lives    of    Mothers    and     Children, 
How    W^e   Can    Save    Them 


THE  CHILD  IS  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  RACE. 


tTbc  parent's  Xibrar? 

First  Steps  in  Child 
Training 


BY 

M.  V.  O'SHEA 

Professor   of  Education,  The  University  of  Wisconsin 

and 

Educational  Director, 

Mother's  Magazine  and  Home  Life 


'••»<•    •  < 


CHICAGO 
FREDERICK  J.  DRAKE  &  CO. 

PUBLISHERS 


^ 


(JCqM^ClCU^^i^^    /ti>^  *  bO^    b  (o^ 


Copyright,    1920 

By  Frederick  J.  Drake  &  Co. 

Clilcago 


All   Rights   Reserved 


TLbc  parent's  Xibrar? 

A  series  of  practical  books  relating  to  the  care  and  culture 
of  the  young,  published  under  the  editorial  supervision  of 
Professor  M.  V.  O'Shea  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  Edu- 
cational Director,  and  Mr.  Paul  E.  Watson,  Editorial  Direc- 
tor, of  Mother's  Magazine  and  Home  Life,  in  cooperation  with 
which  magazine  this  Library  has  been  prepared. 


'?'61551 


FOREWORD 

The  author  of  this  volume  has  served  for  many 
years  as  educational  director  of  Mother's 
Magazine  and  Home  Life  and  also  as  chairman 
of  the  department  of  education  of  the  National 
Congress  of  Mothers  and  Parent-Teacher  Asso- 
ciations. During  these  years  he  has  discussed  a 
large  number  of  problems  of  child  training  with 
parents  and  teachers  whom  he  has  addressed  and 
who  have  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity  of- 
fered by  the  Personal  Service  Bureau  of 
M other ^s  Magazine  and  Home  Life  to  seek  counsel 
and  assistance  in  the  rearing  of  their  children. 
They  have  freely  sought  the  author  ^s  advice  and 
they  have  given  him  their  experiences  in  employ- 
ing various  methods  in  the  instruction  and  dis- 
cipline of  their  children.  It  has  been  his  custom 
to  select  the  more  fundamental  and  important 
questions  asked  by  parents  and  teachers  and  sub- 
mit them  for  investigation  to  groups  of  advanced 
students  engaged  in  the  study  of  child  nature  and 
education.  It  has  generally  turned  out  that  the 
author  has  made  practical  suggestions  to  those 
who  have  consulted  him  and  they  have  in  most 

7 


8  FOREWORD 

cases  made  a  trial  of  these  suggestions  and  have 
reported  the  results  to  the  author.  In  this  way  a 
great  many  concrete  instances  illustrating  char- 
acteristic traits  of  childhood  and  youth  have  been 
accumulated,  and  the  outcome  of  different  meth- 
ods of  dealing  with  them  has  been  accurately 
recorded.  In  the  preparation  of  this  volume  the 
author  has  chosen  for  discussion  the  more  vital 
of  the  problems  which  have  been  treated  in  the 
manner  indicated,  and  he  has  suggested  how  these 
may  best  be  solved  under  the  conditions  existing 
in  different  types  of  homes,  schools  and  com- 
munities. 

The  author  has  kept  constantly  in  mind  that 
most  parents  and  teachers  are  neither  familiar 
with  nor  interested  in  technical  psychology,  biol- 
ogy or  hygiene.  They  are  concerned  with  the 
immediate  and  pressing  problems  of  gniding  chil- 
dren in  their  intellectual,  physical,  ethical,  and 
temperamental  development.  They  wish  to  un- 
derstand why  children  act  in  certain  ways  and 
how  they  can  most  effectively  divert  them  from 
wrong  action.  Parents  and  teachers  are  so  en- 
grossed with  the  concrete  activities  of  childhood 
and  youth  that  they  have  little  time  to  consider 
academic  questions  pertaining  either  to  the  na- 
ture of  children  or  to  their  training;  and  conse- 
quently the  author  has  avoided  practically  all 
merely  theoretical  exposition  in  this  volume.  He 
has  confined  the  discussion  throughout  to  typical 


FOREWORD  9 

situations  which  confront  most  parents  continually 
in  the  upbringing  of  their  children.  He  has  used 
terms  which  can  be  understood  by  those  who  have 
had  little  or  no  study  of  psychology,  physiology 
and  related  sciences,  though  the  suggestions  for 
child  training  given  herein  are  based  upon  data 
derived  from  these  sciences. 

The  author  has  not  allowed  himself  to  forget 
at  any  time  that  this  book  is  designed  for  prac- 
titioners who  are  every  hour  face  to  face  with 
childhood  and  youth  in  the  concrete  and  who  are 
training  their  children  in  some  way  whether  right 
or  wrong.  He  has  undertaken  the  difficult  task  of 
applying  science  to  practice  without  leading  the 
practitioner  over  the  technical  ground  upon  which 
the  practice  is  based.  It  would  have  been  a  sim- 
pler matter  to  have  dwelt  principally  in  the  realm 
of  theory  and  only  occasionally  to  have  made  prac- 
tical application  of  scientific  principles. 

This  is  one  of  a  series  of  four  volumes  pre- 
pared for  the  Parent's  Library.  These  volumes 
supplement  one  another,  and  are  published  simul- 
taneously. The  title  of  each  indicates  that  it  deals 
with  particular  phases  of  the  training  of  child- 
hood and  youth  but  it  has  been  written  with  rela- 
tion to  the  others  in  the  series.  The  titles  of  the 
four  volumes  are:  ^^ First  Steps  in  Child  Train- 
ing,'* '^Faults  of  Childhood  and  Youth,''  ^*The 
Trend  of  the  Teens,"  '^Every-day  Problems  in 
Child  Training." 


10  FOREWORD 

The  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  aim 
throughout  each  and  all  of  these  books  has  been 
to  make  the  discussion  intelligible  and  practical 
by  presenting  typical  traits  of  childhood,  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  ordinary  situations  of  daily  life, 
and  then  endeavoring  to  explain  these  traits  and 
to  indicate  how  they  should  be  dealt  with  when 
they  are  not  in  accord  with  the  requirements  of 
life  in  the  home,  in  the  school,  and  in  the 
community. 

M.  V.  O'Shea. 
The  University  of  Wisconsin. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    First  Steps  in  Intellectual  Training.  ...  1^ 

II     First  Steps  in  Health  Training 36 

III  First  Steps  in  Ethical  Training 77 

IV  First  Steps  in  Social  Training 120 

V    First  Steps  in  Language  Training 155 

VI     First  Steps  in  Training  Disposition 186 

VII     The  First  Toys  and  Playthings 215 

VIII    First  Steps  in  Home  Instruction 235 

IX    Books  on  Child  Training 268 

Index    275 


FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

CHAPTER  I 
FIRST   STEPS   IN   INTELLECTUAL   TRAINING 


The  First  Signs  of  Intelligence. —  When  can 
one  notice  the  first  signs  of  intelligence  in  a  child? 
Usually  not  before  the  third  month.  Up  until 
then  nature  gives  her  attention  mainly  to  build- 
ing the  body.  The  infant  eats,  sleeps  and  grows. 
He  makes  a  little  progress  mentally  during  this 
interval,  however,  for  his  senses  begin  to  awaken. 
He  comes  into  life  practically  blind  and  deaf,  and 
unable  to  discriminate  tastes  or  odors  except  in 
the  most  rudimentary  way.  For  the  first  two 
or  three  weeks,  all  his  senses  lie  dormant.  Then 
he  begins  to  distinguish  between  light  and  dark. 
Loud  noises  awaken  him  from  his  sleep.  But  he 
is  not  much  interested  in  the  outside  world,  and 
he  gives  practically  no  attention  to  the  reports 
that  come  in  through  any  of  the  senses.  The 
mother,  watching  her  child's  features  during 
these  weeks,  is  often  disheartened  because  he  does 

13 


14  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

not  respond  to  her  expressions.  He  simply 
stares.  AA^en  she  speaks  to  him  he  does  not 
^^pay  attention,"  as  she  would  like  to  have  him 
do. 

But  note  the  change  which  occurs  at  about  the 
ninth  or  Tenth  week.  Now  the  features  become 
more  expressive.  The  original  stare  gives  way 
gradually  to  controlled,  purposeful  looking. 
And  what  is  of  far  greater  importance,  the  child 
begins  to  deal  with  the  things  around  him.  Dur- 
ing the  first  few  weeks  he  does  not  try  to  seize 
or  even  touch  anything,  so  he  can  not  make  much 
advance  mentally,  for  progress  can  occur  only 
when  he  takes  an  active  attitude  toward  objects. 
But  once  he  gets  started  in  the  use  of  his  hands, 
he  goes  forward  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Every 
day  now  one  can  see  his  intelligence  strengthening. 
He  begins  to  appreciate  objects,  which  means 
that  he  discovers  their  qualities  and  finds  out 
whether  he  can  gain  agreeable  experience  from 
them,  or  whether  they  will  give  him  pain. 

A  Child  Is  Sense  Hungry. —  A  normal  five- 
months-old  child  seems  to  be  sense  hungry.  Na- 
ture commands  him  to  see  and  hear  everything 
he  can,  to  try  to  put  every  object  he  handles  into 
his  mouth,  and  particularly  to  touch  every  new 
thing,  and  note  whether  it  is  hard  or  soft  and 
how  it  is  constituted.  A  child  who  is  not  acting 
in  this  way  at  six  months  of  age  is  not  develop- 
ing as  nature  intended  he  should  do.    If  he  con- 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  15 

tinues  to  lie  in  liis  cradle  unconcerned  about  the 
world  around  him,  simply  eating,  staring,  and 
sleeping,  there  is  something  wrong  with  him. 

By  the  time  he  is  a  year  old  he  should  have 
made  connections  between  the  sight,  sound,  taste, 
smell,  feeling,  and  constitution  of  most  of  the 
objects  with  which  he  has  come  in  contact.  Of 
course,  the  senses  of  a  year-old  child  cannot  make 
fine  discriminations  in  objects,  but  still  he  can  tell 
whether  they  will  give  him  pleasure  or  pain. 
The  development  of  his  intelligence  after  the 
first  year  consists  mainly  in  his  discovering  the 
qualities  of  objects  through  the  different  senses, 
organizing  his  data  into  ideas,  and  learning  to 
what  uses  he  can  put  the  things  about  him. 

The  Test  of  Intelligence. —  Suppose  a  child 
could  not  make  connections  between  the  appear- 
ance of  his  bottle,  as  an  example,  and  the  pleas- 
ure to  be  derived  from  it.  Well,  then,  he  could 
not  learn;  his  mind  would  be  arrested  in  its  de- 
velopment. If  a  child  could  not  establish  associa- 
tions between  his  experiences  beyond  his  early 
years  he  would  be  an  idiot.  In  institutions  for 
defectives  one  can  sometimes  see  persons  who 
may  be  twenty  years  old  in  body  but  who  may 
not  be  more  than  two  years  old  in  mind.  Some 
misfortune  overtook  them  when  they  were  very 
young,  so  that  they  could  not  make  further  con- 
nections among  their  experiences ;  and  while  their 
bodies  went  on  growing,  their  intelligence  stopped 


16  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

right  there.     So  a  child's  intelligence  may  stop 
developing   at    the   third   or   fourth   or   fifth    or 
fifteenth  year  while  the  body  may  go  on  growing. 
The  more  perfectly  one  can  adapt  himself  to  the 
world   around  him  the  more  completely  is   his 
intelligence  developed.     Of  course,  this  matter 
of  adaptation  is  almost  infinitely  complex.     Try 
to  imagine  all  the  details  the  child  must  learn 
about  the  objects  around  him  in  order  to  under- 
stand them.     Take  such  a  simple  object  as  an 
apple,  for  instance.     Consider  all  the  details  of 
form  and  color  and  quality  which  a  cbild  must 
be  able  to  associate  together  in  order  to  learn 
how  he  should  deal  with  different  varieties  of 
apples  in  different  stages  of  ripening  or  decay! 
Degree   of   Intelligence   at   Different   Ages. — 
What   degree   of   intelligence   should    a   normal 
child  exhibit  at  different  stages  of  development? 
A  six-months-old  baby  should  extend  his  hands 
for  his  bottle  when  it  is  brought  near  him.     He 
should  respond  to  his  mother's  greeting  when 
she  smiles  into  his  face,  or  gurgles  or  coos  to 
arouse  his  expressions.    If  he  is  hungry  and  his 
bottle   is   brought   and   he   makes   no  effort   to 
grasp    it;    or   if   he    does    not    respond    to    his 
mother's  expressions,  then  he  is  not  advancing 
as  rapidly  as  he  should  do.    In  other  words,  he 
is  not  making  the  associations  which  are  normal 
for  a  child  of  this  age.    He  ought  by  this  time  to 
have  learned  the  traits  of  a  few  familiar  objects 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  17 

SO  that  he  will  not  act  in  the  same  way  toward 
all  of  them.  Suppose,  for  instance,  you  should 
have  in  your  right  hand  a  piece  of  wood,  and  in 
your  left  hand  the  child  ^s  bottle.  If  he  is  hungry, 
he  should  grasp  for  his  bottle  instead  of  the 
wood.  If  he  does  not  gTasp  for  the  latter  but 
grasps  for  the  former  instead  and  attempts  to 
satisfy  his  hunger  mth  it,  he  is  retarded  in  his 
mental  development.  One  can  make  a  number  of 
tests  like  this  on  a  ten-  or  twelve-months-old 
child.  If  he  responds  in  the  same  way  to  a  book 
that  he  does  to  his  mother's  face,  he  is  not  de- 
veloping properly. 

A  child  developing  normally  will  reveal  a  con- 
stantly enlarging  range  of  objects  and  situations 
to  which  he  can  adjust  himself  so  as  to  gain  pleas- 
ure from  them  and  avoid  pain.  If  his  range  of 
adaptation  does  not  increase  at  any  age,  then  his 
mental  development  is  arrested  at  that  point. 
If  he  falls  down  stairs  when  he  is  a  year  old,  and 
if  he  does  the  same  thing  when  he  is  two  years 
old  and  three  years  old,  he  is  not  making  progress 
mentally.  If  an  eighteen-months-old  child  touches 
a  stove  and  is  burned  five  times,  and  if  he  pro- 
ceeds to  touch  it  the  sixth  time,  he  is  not  devel- 
oping as  he  should ;  his  brain  is  not  establishing 
connections  among  his  experiences.  At  eighteen 
months  of  age  associations  of  the  type  mentioned 
are  established  very  quickly  in  the  normal  child's 
brain. 


18  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

Instinct  vs.  Intelligence. —  There  are  other 
kinds  of  associations,  however,  which  are  estab- 
lished much  more  slowly,  mainly  because  of 
strong  instincts  which  lead  in  a  contrary  direc- 
tion. For  instance,  an  eighteen-month s- old  child 
may  grab  for  sugar  at  the  table,  and  his  mother 
may  punish  him,  but  he  may  do  the  same  thing- 
to-morrow  and  the  next  day  and  the  next  day. 
He  may  be  normal  in  his  development;  he  may 
actually  have  made  the  connections  between 
grabbing  and  the  pain  that  results;  but  this  in- 
stinct is  so  compelling  that  he  may  give  way  to 
it  and  later  regret  it.  One  may  see  a  child  of 
this  age  who  is  learning  not  to  grab;  he  may 
reach  out  to  grab,  and  then  the  memory  of  the 
penalty  will  rush  forward,  and  he  will  draw  back 
his  hand  before  he  has  actually  touched  the  sugar. 
There  are  numerous  actions  of  this  sort  which 
may  be  observed  in  a  typical  eighteen-months-old 
child  every  day.  They  also  may  be  observed 
later,  but  in  more  complex  situations.  Even  in 
the  university  period  one  may  occasionally  see  a 
student  who  starts  to  cheat  in  an  examination, 
but  who  restrains  himself  before  he  has  yielded 
fully  to  the  temptation,  because  what  he  has 
learned  relating  to  this  matter  comes  to  his 
rescue  before  his  impulse  gets  the  better  of  him. 

The  development  of  intelligence,  then,  means 
in  some  part  the  building  up  of  barriers  against 
impulses,  and  establishing  right  attitudes  toward 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  19 

the  things  and  the  people  in  the  world.  He  has 
learned  best  who  has  established  the  most  asso- 
ciations between  his  impulses  and  the  outcomes  of 
indulging  them.  An  intelligent  adult  has  all  his 
impulses  under  control  so  that  he  can  regulate 
them  according  as  his  experiences  have  shown 
that  they  should  be  repressed  or  modified  or  given 
free  rein.  If  such  an  individual  should  become 
drunk  he  would  be  thrown  back  to  the  condition 
of  infancy  and  his  impulses  would  get  the  better 
of  him. 

II 

The  Child's  Memory. —  A  special  word  should 
be  said  regarding  memory.  The  typical  parent 
says  to  his  young  child  perhaps  twenty-five  times 
a  day,  **Why  didn't  you  do  what  I  told  you  to 
doT'  and  the  child  responds,  ^*I  forgof  The 
parent  says,  **How  many  times  must  I  tell  you 
before  you  remember  T'  and  the  child  persists  in 
trying  to  convince  the  parent  that  he  meant  to 
obey,  but  he  could  not  remember  to  do  so. 

You  who  are  reading  these  lines,  do  you  ever 
forget?  If  you  are  asked  to  mail  a  letter  on  the 
way  to  your  work,  do  you  always  do  it?  If  you 
are  like  most  persons  you  frequently  forget  re- 
quests of  this  sort  unless  they  are  right  in  the 
line  of  your  main  interests.  You  may  never 
forget  a  matter  which  bears  directly  upon  your 
business  or  your  profession  or  your  social  rela- 
tions, but  whatever  lies  outside  of  what  is  really 


20  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

important  and  vital  in  your  life,  as  you  view  the 
subject,  you  frequently  let  slip.  Nature  intends 
you  should  do  this;  she  has  planned  it  so  that  a 
normal  person  will  forget  what  does  not  seem  to 
play  a  role  in  determining  his  welfare  in  one  way 
or  another.  If  people  remembered  everything 
that  was  said  to  them,  and  every  experience,  their 
minds  would  be  cluttered  with  debris.  Nature 
intends  that  much  that  comes  in  through  one  ear 
should  go  out  through  the  other.  That  only  will 
stick  which  can  be  used  in  one's  business,  so  to 
speak.  A  physician  may  remember  everything 
he  has  seen  or  heard  which  relates  to  the  dis- 
eases he  treats,  but  he  may  forget  everything  he 
has  heard  relating  to  legal  matters,  or  teaching, 
or  theology,  or  mechanics,  or  politics,  or  the 
weather.  Every  capable  person,  whether  he  be 
lawyer,  or  teacher,  or  engineer,  or  minister,  or 
housekeeper  does  the  same  thing  in  principle. 

What  a  ChUd  Rem^emhers, —  Now  take  the 
young  child.  His  memory  will  retain  whatever 
relates  to  his  dominant  interests  at  any  stage  in 
his  development.  If  his  father  promises  him  in 
the  morning  that  he  can  go  to  a  moving  picture 
show  in  the  afternoon  he  will  not  forget  it.  In 
psychological  terms,  this  remains  right  in  the 
focus  of  his  consciousness  all  the  time,  because  it 
is  so  vital  to  him;  it  is  exactly  the  same  in  prin- 
ciple as  when  anything  relating  to  disease  keeps 
itself  in  the  forefront  of  a  physician's  attention 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  21 

SO  that  he  cannot  forget  it.  But  if  the  feither 
asks  his  child  to  do  an  errand  and  he  meets  a 
playmate  on  the  street,  he  may  forget  the  errand 
completely.  Why!  Because  to  play  with  his 
companion  is  more  directly  related  to  his  interests 
than  to  do  the  errand.  Instantly  he  sees  his  com- 
panion, his  consciousness  becomes  filled  with 
ideas  relating  to  play.  Everything  else  is  driven 
into  the  background.  Anyone  who  understands 
child  nature  would  be  able  to  predict  that  this 
would  happen  in  nine  out  of  ten  cases  with  nor- 
mal children. 

Take  another  example.  A  mother  says  to  her 
five-year-old  boy:  ^^You  may  play  on  the  lawn 
this  forenoon  while  I  am  at  the  Club,  but  I  do 
not  want  you  to  go  across  the  street  and  play 
with  Sammy  Jones.  Now  be  sure  and  do  what  I 
tell  you.  ^ '  What  are  the  chances  that  the  boy  will 
remember?  If  Sammy  Jones  is  a  good  com- 
panion, and  if  he  calls  across  the  street  saying  that 
he  has  something  to  show  him,  it  is  a  safe  guess 
that  the  boy  will  go.  Even  if  in  the  past  the 
mother  has  whipped  him  for  leaving  his  lawn  he 
will  forget  about  it  when  Sammy  Jones  invites 
him  to  come  over.  Some  parents  whip  their  chil- 
dren every  day  for  going  to  the  neighbors.  Such 
children  may  begin  to  cry  when  they  are  on  their 
way  home,  because  then  they  remember  what  is 
likely  to  happen  to  them,  but  when  the  impulse 
is  on  them  to  go  over  to  the  neighbors  to  gratify 


22  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

their  curiosity  or  to  play  with  a  companion 
everything  else  is  crowded  into  the  background. 

Still  another  case.  A  kindergartener  says  to 
her  five-year-old  children,  '^You  must  not  whis- 
per to  anyone  until  I  give  you  permission.  Every 
child  must  pay  attention  to  what  he  is  doing,  and 
not  look  at  anyone  else.''  How  long  can  five- 
year-old  children  remember  instruction  of  this 
sort?  Not  much  longer  than  it  takes  to  give  it. 
As  soon  as  the  sound  of  the  teacher's  voice  has 
died  away,  and  the  children  are  not  looking  at 
her,  and  unless  they  are  busily  engaged  on  an 
interesting  task,  their  desire  to  communicate  will 
surge  into  the  focus  of  consciousness,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  most  of  them  will  be  practically  cer- 
tain to  whisper  to  their  companions.  A  wise 
kindergartener  would  rarely  make  a  request  of 
this  kind  unless  she  could  hold  the  attention  of 
her  children  during  the  period  when  she  wished 
them  not  to  look  at  others  or  whisper  to  them. 
Those  w^ho  have  charge  of  young  children  should 
remember  that  the  impulse  to  look  at  companions 
and  communicate  with  them  is  very  profound, 
and  it  will  assert  itself  whenever  children  are 
not  deeply  interested  in  their  own  individual 
enterprises. 

Wht/  Adults  Misunderstand  Children. —  We 
adults  usually  think  children  should  remember 
instruction  which  we  could  keep  in  mind  our- 
selves.   If  an  adult  were  asked  not  to  communi- 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  23 

cate  with  a  companion  lie  could  keep  the  matter 
in  his  attention  for  a  considerable  period,  be- 
cause all  his  experience  has  made  him  appreciate 
the  importance  of  remembering  such  instructions. 
And  then,  the  impulse  to  communicate  is  not  so 
strong  in  an  adult  as  it  is  in  a  child,  so  that  it  is 
not  likely  to  gain  the  upper  hand  in  his  conscious- 
ness. But  a  parent  will  often  forget  experiences 
which  his  child  will  remember,  such  as  places 
visited,  jingles  learned,  and  so  on.  If  the  child 
should  turn  'round  and  criticise  the  parent  be- 
cause he  forgot,  the  latter  would  think  he  was 
dealt  with  unjustly.  He  would  say,  *^It  is  not 
important  that  I  should  retain  these  things.  I 
am  not  interested  in  them.  I  do  not  want  to  re- 
member them.''  He  would  be  justilSed  in  taking 
this  attitude,  but  it  is  not  so  easy  for  him  to  see 
that  the  child  is  sometimes  justified  in  not  re- 
membering commands  which  the  parent  issues. 

Practical  Suggestions. —  Grown  people  ought 
not  to  issue  so  many  instructions  to  children  as 
they  ordinarily  do.  But  when  it  is  necessary  to 
give  a  command  the  parent  and  the  teacher 
should  see  to  it  that  the  child  thoroughly  ap- 
preciates it  and  associates  it  with  some  event 
which  will  enable  him  to  remember  it.  Often  he 
is  so  busy  with  his  enterprises  that  he  does  not 
hear  what  is  said  to  him.  Suppose  he  is  playing 
a  vigorous  game  with  a  companion,  and  the 
mother  calls  out  to  him,  ^*I  want  you  to  come  in 


24  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

in  five  minutes/'  The  chances  are  that  he  does 
not  really  hear  what  is  said,  or  at  least  it  does 
not  take  a  firm  hold  on  his  attention,  even  though 
he  replies,  *^Yes,  I  will  come/'  His  answer  is 
mechanical.  It  is  practically  certain  he  will  not 
remember  to  go  in  in  five  minutes.  A  young 
child  cannot  judge  the  flight  of  time  anyway, 
even  when  he  is  not  otherwise  engaged ;  but  when 
he  is  absorbed  in  play,  time  does  not  exist  for 
him, —  it   is   annihilated  under   such   conditions. 

The  parent  mentioned  above  made  a  mistake  in 
not  having  the  boy  stop  his  play  long  enough  so 
that  what  was  said  to  him  could  get  into  the 
focus  of  his  attention.  Then  she  should  have 
helped  him  to  measure  the  flight  of  time  by  say- 
ing, for  instance, — *^As  soon  as  you  knock  the 
ball  once  more  you  run  in,''  or,  **Just  as  soon 
as  you  tag  Sammy  Jones  remember  to  come  in." 
A  parent  must  make  a  clear  and  impressive  con- 
nection between  a  command  of  this  sort  and  a 
given  act.  It  is  of  particular  importance  to  keep 
in  mind  that  when  commands  are  thrown  out 
into  the  air  at  a  child  who  is  busy  in  any  enter- 
prise, there  is  very  little  likelihood  that  they 
will  be  carried  out,  because  they  really  do  not 
get  into  his  consciousness. 

Impressing  Commands. —  Suppose  a  child  has 
been  told  not  to  pull  coals  from  the  grate  onto 
the  carpet.  One  of  the  deepest  impulses  of 
children  is  to  jjlay  with  fire,  and  they  are  likely 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  25 

to  forget  instructions  to  let  it  alone.  Can  they 
be  made  to  remember  not  to  pull  out  the  coals? 
The  first  step  is  to  impress  them  with  the  danger 
involved.  A  parent  might  pull  out  coals  and  let 
them  begin  to  burn  on  an  old  piece  of  carpet 
which  can  be  used  for  this  purpose.  It  Avould  be 
desirable  to  have  a  blaze  actually  start  up  and 
frighten  the  child.  The  parent  could  then  say, 
**Our  house  will  burn  down  if  you  ever  pull  out 
coals.''  An  experience  of  this  sort  would  prob- 
ably deeply  affect  a  child  three  years  of  age,  and 
if  he  should  start  to  pull  out  coals  at  any  time 
the  sight  of  burning  carpet  would  flash  into  his 
mind  and  restrain  him.  There  are  other  ways  in 
which  a  parent  could  make  the  connection  be- 
tween coals  and  danger  if  he  would  take  the  time 
for  it.  One  such  lesson  might  permanently  re- 
strain a  child  from  playing  in  a  dangerous  way 
with  fire. 

But  simply  to  say  to  a  child,  **I  don't  want 
you  to  play  with  fire,"  will  probably  be  useless 
in  most  cases.  Whipping  him  if  he  touches  the 
fire  may  work  successfully  occasionally,  but  it 
will  fail  in  many  instances.  A  burned  child  will 
fear  the  fire,  but  a  whipped  child  may  not  think 
about  it. 

The  Treatment  of  a  Bad  M&niory. —  Will  pun- 
ishment help  a  child  to  remember!  Take  the  case 
of  a  child  who  is  constantly  bringing  mud  into 
the  house  on  his  shoes.    If  he  is  whipped  will  he 


26  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

remember  to  rub  off  the  mud  before  he  comes  in? 
Take  a  hundred  children  chosen  at  random,  and 
some  of  them  will  make  the  connection  between 
the  whipping  and  bringing  mud  into  the  house. 
Probably  the  majority  of  them  will  not  be  great- 
ly helped  by  the  whipping.  Doubtless  some  of  the 
readers  of  these  lines  can  bear  evidence  to  this 
fact.  In  some  homes  children  are  whipped  or 
slapped  several  times  every  day  because  they 
bring  in  mud  on  their  shoes.  A  better  way  would 
be  to  require  a  child  to  sweep  out  the  mud  when- 
ever he  brings  it  in;  to  have  him  suffer  the  nat- 
ural consequences  of  thoughtlessness  will  be  more 
effective  than  whipping  him,  as  a  rule.  A  better 
way  still  would  be  to  place  a  shoe  scraper  in  front 
of  the  steps  so  prominent  that  when  the  child 
steps  on  it  he  can  hardly  help  but  think  what  it  is 
for.  Many  domestic  tragedies  would  be  avoided 
if  parents  would  think  of  devices  which  would 
automatically  suggest  the  acts  they  wish  their 
children  to  perform.  The  fact  is  we  all  tend 
to  rely  upon  mere  commands,  and  these  com- 
mands relate  to  actions  which  are  of  importance 
to  us,  and  which  we  can  remember,  but  which  are 
not  of  importance  to  the  child,  and  so  he  is  likely 
to  forget  them. 

Ill 

Touch  is  the  Primary  Sense. —  In  the  develop- 
ment of  intelligence  the  senses  play  the  leading 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  27 

role  in  the  early  years.  The  sense  of  touch  is  the 
mother  of  all  the  senses.  There  was  a  time  in 
the  evolution  of  mind  when  there  was  no  sense 
but  that  of  touch.  Sight  has  been  built  out  of 
and  dependent  upon  the  sense  of  touch,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  hearing,  taste,  and  smell,  f  If  the 
sense  of  touch  should  be  destroyed  in  an  infant, 
it  is  doubtful  if  the  other  senses  would  develop, 
and  it  is  practically  certain  that  his  intelligence 
would  remain  rudimentary.  In  this  connection, 
it  should  be  said  that  the  muscular  sense — the 
sense  that  gives  impressions  of  weight  and  the 
constitution  of  things,  what  their  resistance  is, 
and  what  they  can  do  to  an  individual — this  sense 
is  directly  associated  with  the  sense  of  touch  as 
found  in  the  hand.  Those  who  teach  the  feeble- 
minded appeal  primarily  to  the  sense  of  touch 
and  the  muscular  sense,  for  in  no  other  way  can 
a  backward  intelligence  be  effectively  stimulated. 
Let  any  reader  who  has  not  done  so  put  this 
question  to  himself:  ^'What  does  it  mean  to 
under stcmd  a  thing!"  He  will  discover  that  it 
means  possessing  knowledge  of  what  uses  a  thing- 
can  be  put  to,  or  how  it  will  affect  one.  Really, 
what  one  needs  to  know  about  the  world  and  all 
the  things  therein  is  how  they  can  serve  him,  and 
how  they  will  respond  when  he  acts  this  way  or 
that.  Nature  practically  compels  the  normal 
child  to  experiment  with  things  in  order  to 
answer  these  questions — ^^How  are  they  consti- 


28  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

tutedf  What  can  I  do  with  them?  What  will 
they  do  to  me?"  The  greater  the  number  of  cor- 
rect answers  an  individual  can  give  to  these  ques- 
tions regarding  the  objects  in  the  world,  the  more 
intelligent  he  is.  Further,  the  more  efficient  a 
parent  or  teacher  is  in  assisting  a  child  to  gain 
vital  answers  to  these  questions,  the  better  in- 
structor he  is. 

Nature  says  to  the  normal  child,  ^*  Experiment 
with  every  new  thing  you  can  find.  Look  at  it. 
Make  what  sounds  you  can  with  it.  Put  it  in 
your  mouth,  and  see  whether  you  can  find  out 
anything  about  it  in  this  way.  But  whatever 
else  you  do  with  it,  don't  fail  to  handle  it.  Try 
whether  it  will  bound  or  roll,  or  whether  it  can 
be  toppled  over.  Don't  leave  anything  new^  until 
you  have  experimented  with  it  in  all  these  ways, 
and  until  you  have  tested  it  in  other  ways  if  you 
can  think  of  any.'' 

So  when  a  twelve-  or  fifteen-months-old  child 
begins  to  go  about  the  house  on  his  own  initia- 
tive, he  proceeds  to  obey  nature's  command,  and 
he  tests  everything  he  can  find  anywhere.  Sup- 
pose, now,  that  the  mother  restrains  him  so  that 
he  will  not  get  into  trouble  or  disarrange  the 
household.  Suppose  she  does  not  provide  him 
with  objects  with  which  he  can  experiment.  The 
more  she  limits  her  child,  the  more  she  handicaps 
him  in  his  struggle  to  learn  the  world -in  which 
he  must  live.     One  thin^'  is  certain:  he  cannot 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  29 

learn  it  by  looking  at  it  simply  or  listening  to 
words  that  adnlts  may  use  to  describe  it.    ■ 

It  is  difficult  for  many  adults  to  appreciate  this 
fact.  They  can  understand  things  and  get  pleas- 
ure from  them  without  handling  them.  Moreover, 
they  can  acquire  knowledge  about  objects  when 
others  describe  them,  or  when  they  read  about 
them.  But  such  people  forget  that  they  first  had 
to  have  real,  first-hand  experience  before  they 
could  ever  understand  or  enjoy  anything  or  use 
words  regarding  it.  They  forget  also  that  they 
often  have  serious  deficiencies  in  their  own  knowl- 
edge because  they  were  handicapped  in  early 
childhood  in  dealing  with  the  world  around  them. 

How  the  City  Interferes  with  Development, — 
This  is  particularly  true  of  people  brought  up  in 
the  city  where  there  are  limitations  of  every  kind. 
It  is  believed  to-day  by  those  who  study  such 
things  that  the  child  who  spends  his  whole  time 
in  the  city  is  likely  to  suffer  from  defects  in  in- 
telligence in  mature  years,  unless  parents  and 
teachers  make  special  efforts  to  counteract  the 
retarding  influence  of  the  environment.  Unfor- 
tunately, the  typical  city  house  is  furnished  to 
meet  the  pride  and  convenience  of  adults,  and 
there  is  almost  nothing  in  it  which  can  be  han- 
dled or  used  by  the  young.  Madame  Montessori 
appreciated  the  situation  in  the  modern  city,  and 
she  devised  her  simple  apparatus  with  a  view  to 
training   the   child's    senses   and   providing   him 


30  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

with  facilities  for  constructive  activities.  The 
praise  which  has  been  given  the  Montessori  sys- 
tem has  come  from  persons  who  have  felt  the 
limitations  of  the  home,  and  who  have  observed 
the  effect  upon  the  child's  intelligence  and  also 
upon  his  disposition  of  having  something  to  do, 
as  provided  for  by  the  Montessori  system. 

A  civil  engineer  who  employs  a  large  number, 
of  college  boys  each  year  to  go  with  him  into  the 
mountainous  regions  of  the  West,  said  recently 
that  hereafter  he  would  take  only  boys  who  had 
received  their  early  training  on  the  farm,  or  at 
least  in  the  country,  because  he  has  found  that 
boys  who  have  been  born  and  bred  in  the  city  are, 
with  rare  exceptions,  not  as  resourceful  as  those 
brought  up  in  the  country.  City  boys  seem  not 
to  be  able  to  deal  with  original  situations  as  well 
as  farm  boys.  The  former  are  more  or  less  help- 
less whenever  they  have  a  new  problem  to  solve, 
while  the  latter  apply  themselves  to  it,  and 
usually  find  some  solution  for  it.  Why  should 
there  be  this  difference?  Principally  because 
city  life  to-day  tends  to  deprive  children  of  the 
opportunity  and  the  necessity  of  doing  things  for 
themselves.  City  life  is  organized  without  refer- 
ence to  the  need  of  making  children  self-helpful. 
There  is  little  for  them  to  do  that  demands  appli- 
cation or  originality.  In  the  majority  of  homes 
there  is  nothing  of  any  sort  for  children  to  do  on 
their  own  initiative.    The  home  is  conducted  so 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  31 

that  most  of  its  activities  are  looked  after  by 
hired  help;  in  many  cases,  children  do  not  have 
to  dress  themselves  even.  Training  of  this  sort 
during  the  early  years  must  result  in  mental  and 
perhaps  physical  flabbiness. 

IV 

Training  for  Self -Help  fulness. —  This  principle 
applies  all  the  way  along  in  the  child's  training. 
When  he  begins  to  read,  write,  spell  and  cipher, 
whether  he  starts  in  the  home  or  in  the  school,  his 
advancement  will  depend  almost  entirely  upon 
the  skill  of  the  mother  or  teacher  in  leading  him 
to  take  every  step  for  himself.     Suppose,  for  in- 
stance, the  child  is  writing  a  sentence,  and  he 
wants  to  use  the  word  ^'hand.''     It  seems  un- 
familiar to  him,  and  he  calls  out  to  his  mother, 
''How   do  you   spell   'hand'!"     What   will   the 
mother  do  if  she  is  a  competent  teacher  of  her 
child!     Will  she  dictate  the  spelling?     She  will 
not.     The  easiest  way,  of  course,  is  to  tell  the 
child  outright;  but  it  is  the  worst  way  so  far  as 
the  development  of  self-helpfulness  and  intelli- 
gence are  concerned.     A  competent  mother  will 
guide  the  child  to  spell  the  word  largely  by  his 
own  effort,  if  it  is  at  all  possible  for  him  to  do  so. 
She  will  have  him  sound  the  word,  so  that  each 
element  in  it  will  stand  out  in  his  attention.    Then 
she  will  lead  him  to  connect  the  proper  letters 
with  the  sounds  he  has  analyzed.    She  will  simply 


32  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

question  and  stimulate  him  but  not  tell  him.  She 
will  not  question  him  either  more  than  is  neces- 
sary to  have  him  solve  his  problem.  It  might  be 
enough  for  her  simply  to  ask  him  to  sound  the 
word  slowly,  and  he  may  then  discover  how  it  is 
to  be  spelled. 

There  are  several  hundred  opportunities  every 
day  in  the  typical  home  for  the  parent  or  older 
brother  or  sister  to  stimulate  the  child  to  be 
original  and  self-helpful.  Take  a  five-year-old 
who  asks  his  mother  why  pieces  of  paper  dropped 
over  the  register  fly  upward.  The  mother  may 
respond,  ** Because  hot  air  rises,''  and  let  it  go  at 
that.  This  would  be  bad  teaching.  What  should 
the  mother  do  I  If  she  cannot  stop  to  have  her 
child  make  a  little  experiment  in  which  he  will 
see  that  when  he  lights  a  match  or  a  candle  or 
builds  a  fire  the  smoke  goes  upward,  then  she 
will  ask  him  to  hold  his  hand  over  the  register, 
and  feel  the  air  beating  up  against  it.  She  will 
have  him  ascertain  where  this  air  comes  from. 
She  will  ask  him  to  go  down  into  the  cellar,  and 
discover  the  pipe  that  furnishes  the  air,  and  find 
out  where  it  leads  to,  and  see  from  where  it 
starts.  If  she  could  take  one  minute  for  the  task, 
she  could  make  him  see  the  connection  between 
the  fresh-air  intake  and  the  hot  air  which  he  feels. 
He  could  put  some  fragrant  thing  in  the  current 
of  air  at  the  fresh-air  intake,  and  then  run  up- 
stairs and  catch  it  as  it  comes  out  of  the  register. 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  33 

He  would  then  have  traced  the  air  from  the  be- 
ginning and  would  have  made  the  connection 
between  the  phenomenon  that  interested  him  and 
its  cause,  and  thus  he  would  gain  a  real  under- 
standing of  it. 

The  typical  child  from  two  to  five  or  six  prob- 
ably does  not  comprehend  more  than  one  out  of 
every  hundred  answers  which  are  made  to  the 
questions  he  asks,  because  the  answers  are 
abstract  and  unintelligible. 

The  Role  of  Play. —  It  is  fortunate  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  child's  intellect,  as  well  as  for 
his  physical  development,  that  he  is  endowed  with 
uncontrollable  impulses  to  play.  What  would  be- 
come of  a  child  brought  up  in  a  modem  city,  in 
a  home  in  which  all  the  activities  are  looked  after 
by  servants,  who  had  no  desire  to  play?  He 
would  doubtless  be  feeble-minded,  because  there 
would  be  no  incentive  for  his  mind  to  unfold. 
I  The  more  active  a  child  is  in  his  play,  the 
greater  are  the  possibilities  for  his  mental  devel- 
opment. Of  course,  he  must  have  opportunities  for 
varied  play  activities;  and  the  range  of  his  play 
must  be  increased  as  Jie  develops.  A  child  who 
could  never  play  anything  but  wood  tag,  for  in- 
stance, would  be  handicapped  in  his  development 
as  compared  with  a  child  who  could  play  twenty- 
five  different  games  with  diiferent  groups  and 
numbers  of  players.  Further,  the  child  who  is 
provided   with   a    sandpile,   and   especiallj^   with 


\ 


34  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

tools  with  which  to  make  objects,  even  thougii 
very  crude,  who  has  dolls  to  dress,  etc.,  has  a 
tremendous  advantage  over  a  child  who  has 
nothing  of  this  sort.  A  child  who  has  oppor- 
tunities to  climb  trees,  to  make  kites  and  fly  them, 
to  shoot  with  a  bow  and  arrow,  to  throw  stones 
with  a  sling,  and  so  on,  is  certain  to  develop  better 
than  a  child  who  can  play  now^here  except  on  a 
city  street,  or  who  is  confined  to  his  house  and 
can  play  only  card  games,  say,  with  adults. 

Training  in  ConcenU^ation.^-  Intelligence  de- 
velops by  gaining  impressions  of  objects,  organ- 
izing them  together  into  ideas,  and  using  these 
to  interpret  new  situations  and  to  help  the  indi- 
vidual to  adjust  himself  thereto.  The  highest 
success  in  this  activity  requires  concentration. 
Take  two  children  three  years  of  age.  One  is 
distracted  by  everything  that  happens  around 
him.  He  flits  from  one  thing  to  another  inces- 
santly during  waking  life,  so  that  he  does  not 
stay  with  any  one  thing  long  enough  to  have  the 
impressions  concerning  it  become  definitely  estab- 
lished and  organized.  Then  take  the  other  child. 
He  holds  himself  to  anything  that  interests  him 
or  that  he  is  doing  until  it  really  settles  into  his 
system,  as  it  were.  Under  such  conditions,  the 
impressions  will  persist,  and  they  will  fuse  to- 
gether in  a  natural  way.  The  latter  child  will 
learn  rapidly;  he  will  make  constant  progress  in 
intelligence,  while  the  former  will  progress  very 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  85 

slowly.  The  difference  between  them  is  due 
primarily  to  a  difference  in  concentration.  Un- 
fortunately modern  city  life  tends  constantly 
toward  distraction.  So  much  is  happening 
around  children  that  many  of  them  cannot  hold 
themselves  to  their  tasks  long  enough  for  ideas 
and  responses  to  become  established. 

Here  is  indicated  one  of  the  vital  problems  of 
the  home — to  protect  its  children  against  the 
incessant  appeal  of  the  world  outside.  There 
ought  to  be  effective  community  co-operation 
so  that  in  every  home  there  would  be  hours  in 
which  the  children  would  be  applying  themselves 
to  tasks  of  some  sort.  If  American  homes  can- 
not build  barriers  against  these  distractions,  we 
will  be  unable  to  develop  those  habits  of  concen- 
tration and  application  in  the  young  which  are 
absolutely  essential  for  sound  intellectual  develop- 
ment. 


CHAPTER  II 

FIRST  STEPS  IN  HEALTH  TRAINING 

A  large  proportion  of  children  never  reach 
school  age.  Most  of  them  die  of  diseases  that 
could  be  easily  prevented.  Many  of  the  discom- 
forts of  the  early  years  of  childhood  are  due  to 
aches  and  pains  which  are  caused  by  wrong  habits 
of  life.  The  first  concern  then  of  any  parent 
should  be  so  to  train  his  children  that  they  may 
become  able  to  resist  the  physical  ailments  which 
handicap  them  in  their  development,  and  make 
life  a  burden  to  themselves  and  to  those  who 
care  for  them. 


'  Dietetic  Habits  of  Chief  Importan<^e. —  Nature 
intends  that  during  the  first  three  months  a  child 
should  do  little  else  than  eat  and  sleep.  If  he  feeds 
at  his  mother's  breast  the  problem  of  food  is 
not  likely  to  be  a  serious  one.  When  he  is 
limited  to  this  bill-of-fare  he  will  rarely  over- 
eat, but  he  will  get  enough  food  if  the  mother 
can  provide  it.  Sometimes  a  mother's  milk  does 
not  contain  the  proper  elements  ,of  food  in  the 

36 


HEALTH  TRAINING  ♦  37 

right  proportion,  and  tlie  child  will  reveal  this 
by  failing  to  gain  in  weight,  and  he  may  cry  a 
good  deal,  thus  showing  that  his  food  is  not  being 
digested  and  assimilated,  whatever  the  cause  may 
be.  The  chief  trouble  is  likely  to  be  the  familiar 
colic.  This  difficulty  is  not  always  due  to  lack  of 
balance  in  the  elements  of  food,  or  to  an  excess  or 
deficiency  of  food.  It  may  be  due  to  the  body 
becoming  chilled  in  bathing  or  in  the  cradle,  or 
to  heavy,  close  wrapping  which  prevents  escape 
of  heat  and  moisture.  A  new-born  child  is  easily 
chilled  because  the  skin  has  not  been  trained  to 
resist  changes  in  temperature,  and  then  digestive 
difficulties  are  certain  to  follow.  Also,  if  the  body 
be  kept  wrapped  so  that  the  surplus  heat  and 
moisture  cannot  escape,  reflex  nervous  disturb- 
ances will  result,  and  the  digestion  and  assimila- 
tion of  food  are  the  first  processes  to  be  affected. 
When  a  child  is  continually  crying  with  colic, 
then,  the  cause  should  be  sought  not  only  in  the 
food,  but  also  in  the  manner  of  bathing  and  in  the 
clothing. 

Different  Uses  of  Food. — ■  The  purpose  of  food 
is  to  supply  materials  for  building  up  the  body, 
to  furnish  heat  for  warming  it,  and  to  give  energy 
to  support  mental  and  muscular  action.  The  body 
is  built  from  minerals  that  are  required  for  the 
bony  structures,  and  albumin  or  protein  which  is 
required  for  flesh.  The  minerals  are  derived 
from  milk,  grains,  meat,  eggs,  potatoes,  and  such 


38  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

vegetables  as  spinach.  The  albumin  is  derived  in 
large  measure  from  eggs,  meat,  peas,  beans,  milk 
and  cheese.  It  is  found  in  just  about  the  right 
proportion  in  all  the  grains — wheat,  corn,  oats, 
rye.  The  proportion  differs  a  little  in  the  differ- 
ent grains,  but  the  difference  is  not  very  great. 
The  heat  required  to  warm  the  body  and  the 
energy  needed  for  action  of  any  kind  are  derived 
mainly  from  fats,  starch,  and  sugar,  though  in 
case  of  necessity  even  the  albumin  or  protein 
may  furnish  heat  and  energy. 

Different  Foods  for  Different  Ages. —  It  is  im- 
portant for  a  parent  to  try  to  work  out  a  bill- 
of-fare  for  a  child  which  will  be  best  adapted  to 
his  needs  at  different  periods  in  his  development. 
It  will  not  be  possible  in  this  chapter  to  go  into 
details;  any  parent  can  secure  from  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  at  Washington  free  bulletins, 
particularly  one  written  by  Caroline  F.  Hunt, 
which  will  be  found  helpful  in  choosing  and  pre- 
paring food  for  young  children.  But  there  are 
certain  general  rules  which  can  be  given  here. 
Milk  should  be  the  main  food  of  a  child  up  until 
the  appearance  of  the  teeth,  of  course.  It  should 
be  the  most  important  element  of  his  food  up  to 
the  age  of  four  or  five,  at  any  rate.  The  chief 
requirement  is  to  see  that  the  milk  has  the  right 
proportion  of  butter  fat,  and  is  free  from  disease 
germs.  Every  community  should  help  parents  to 
secure  good  milk  by  requiring  dairymen  to  deliver 


HEALTH  TRAINING  39 

milk  up  to  standard  in  butter  fat  and  free  from 
tuberculosis,  typhoid  and  other  disease  germs. 
Most  progressive  communities  have  laws  govern- 
ing these  requirements.  It  may  be  mentioned  that 
skimmed  milk  has  nourishment,  but  it  is  lacking 
in  fat.  If  a  parent  cannot  secure  milk  containing 
the  required  amount  of  cream,  then  the  deficiency 
in  fat  must  be  made  up  by  the  use  of  butter,  or 
olive  oil,  or  butterine.  Cream  is  the  best  fat  for 
a  young  child,  because  it  can  be  most  easily 
digested  and  because  it  contains  an  abundant  sup- 
ply of  vitamines  which  are  essential  for  nutrition. 
Butter  must  be  worked  back  into  something  like 
cream — that  is  to  say,  it  must  be  emulsified — ^be- 
fore it  can  be  assimilated,  and  the  same  is  true  of 
olive  oil  and  the  like. 

The  Bill-of-Fare  When  the  Teeth  Appear. — 
While  milk  must  constitute  the  basis  of  the 
young  child's  dietary,  it  would  not  do  to  have 
children  live  upon  it  entirely  after  the  teeth  come. 
Upon  the  appearance  of  the  teeth  nature  intends 
that  they  shall  be  used  in  grinding  foods  that 
require  chewing.  When  the  teeth  develop, 
changes  occur  in  the  alimentary  system  which 
make  it  possible  for  the  child  to  digest  meats, 
grains,  and  vegetables.  Before  the  teeth  appear 
the  system  cannot  manufacture  the  juice  necessary 
to  digest  these  foods.  When  the  teeth  are  cut  a 
child  ought  every  day  to  have  some  hard,  rough 
food  with  his  milk.    Children  who  are  fed  on  soft 


40  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

foods  which  require  no  chewing  are  at  a  disad- 
vantage in  various  ways.  The  teeth  will  decay 
the  more  readily  because  Nature  will  not  main- 
tain the  vigor  of  organs  unless  they  are  put  to 
their  proper  uses.  Further,  mushes  and  other 
soft  grain  foods  contain  starch  which  cannot  be 
well  taken  care  of  if  it  passes  to  the  stomach  as 
starch.  It  ought  to  be  acted  upon  first  by  juices 
developed  in  the  mouth  in  chewing.  These  juices 
convert  the  starch  into  dextrin  and  this  can  be 
acted  upon  effectively  by  the  juices  in  the  stomach 
and  farther  along.  So  as  early  as  possible  chil- 
dren should  eat  crusts  of  bread,  zwieback,  or  bread 
toasted  until  it  is  hard.  There  are  a  number  of 
varieties  of  cereal  foods  on  the  market  that  re- 
quire vigorous  chewing  before  they  can  be  swal- 
lowed. Certain  of  these  foods  contain  the  whole 
grain,  either  corn  or  wheat,  and  so  they  make 
good  food  for  children. 

A  child  ought  every  day  to  have  some  cereal 
food  with  bran  in  it,  because  this  element  is 
needed  as  a  mechanical  stimulant  in  the  digestive 
tract.  Children  who  are  fed  on  soft  starchy 
foods  without  bran  are  apt  to  suffer  from  in- 
activity of  the  intestines,  and  then  all  sorts  of 
trouble  are  likely  to  follow.  The  wastes  and 
poisons  which  ought  to  be  regularly  eliminated 
may  be  retained  in  the  system.  Some  children 
are  in  what  physicians  call  a  toxic  condition  most 
of  the  time.     That  is  to  say,  wastes  that  should 


HEALTH  TRAINING  41 

be  got  rid  of  through  the  eliminative  organs  are 
retained  and  absorbed,  and  they  cause  headaches, 
skin  eruptions,  colds,  and  many  of  the  other 
every-day  afflictions  of  the  young.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  no  child  can  keep  well  who  does  not 
eliminate  these  wastes  regularly;  this  is  the  first 
law  of  health.  Nature  would  take  care  of  the 
matter  properly  if  the  child's  bill-of-fare  con- 
sisted in  some  part  of  hard  foods  containing  bran 
and  requiring  vigorous  chewing.  Vegetables  in 
which  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of  cellulose 
matter  will  give  bulk  to  the  contents  of  the  intes- 
tines, and  this  is  highly  desirable.  Also  stewed 
com  containing  the  husk  is  valuable  as  a  food 
and  as  a  mechanical  stimulant  to  the  eliminative 
organs.  Ripe  fruits  supply  acids  which  are  very 
essential  for  proper  digestion  and  elimination. 
A  child  ought  every  day  to  have  an  apple,  an 
orange,  or  some  other  ripe  fruit.  Apples  and 
oranges  are  better  for  most  children  than  any 
other  fruit.  Nature  appears  to  lead  the  typical 
child  to  consume  the  whole  of  an  apple,  including 
skin  and  core,  and  his  instinct  is  a  wise  guide. 

Sugar  Shovld  he  Used  Sparingly. —  One  of  the 
chief  difficulties  with  children's  diet  is  the  excess 
use  of  sugar.  Sugar  taken  on  an  empty  stomach 
is  an  irritant  to  the  digestive  system  and  often  to 
the  nervous  system.  In  modem  life  children  con- 
sume an  excess  of  sugar  in  their  foods  and  espe- 
cially in  the  form  of  candies.    With  right  train- 


42  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

ing  from  the  beginning  very  little  sugar  will  be 
needed  in  foods.  All  cereal  foods  develop  sweet- 
ness when  properly  chewed.  It  is  better  for 
health  to  make  foods  tasty  by  masticating  them 
than  by  sweetening  them  artificially.  If  a  child 
from  the  beginning  does  not  eat  candy  between 
meals  and  but  little  of  it  at  any  time,  he  will  not 
develop  a  craving  for  it.  He  will  be  satisfied 
with  the  amount  of  sugar  used  in  the  ordinary 
cooking  of  food.  The  free  use  of  ripe,  sweet 
fruits  will  satisfy  the  passion  for  sweets  to  a 
large  extent. 

Young  children  who  get  into  the  habit  of  eat- 
ing a  lot  of  sugar  on  cereals  or  in  puddings,  and 
so  on,  or  who  are  given  much  candy,  are  likely 
to  develop  finicky  habits  in  regard  to  food.  They 
are  quite  apt  not  to  masticate  food  thoroughly 
in  order  to  make  it  agreeable  to  the  taste;  they 
come  to  rely  upon  artificial  flavoring  rather  than 
upon  thorough  mastication.  One  sees  children  of 
this  kind  who  will  eat  only  the  soft  part  of  bread, 
who  will  not  eat  any  cereals  unless  they  are  cov- 
ered with  sugar,  who  must  have  maple  syrup  or 
honey  or  some  other  sweetening  upon  cakes  and 
waffles,  who  live  largely  on  cake  and  cookies. 
They  will  not  eat  any  fruits  unless  they  are 
highly  sweetened.  They  often  turn  up  their  noses 
at  eggs,  potatoes,  and  all  vegetables  which  are  not 
sweetened. 

No  Condiments  in  a  Child's  Food. —  The  case 


HEALTH  TRAINING  43 

is  aggravated  when  condiments  are  used,  snch 
as  salt,  pepper,  and  the  like.  Appetite  should 
never  be  thus  artificially  stimulated  in  a  child. 
If  he  will  not  eat  potatoes  or  meat  or  vegetables 
without  the  use  of  condiments,  it  is  evidence  that 
he  is  not  living  a  healthy  life.  When  appetite 
fails  a  child  it  is  Nature's  sign  that  either  the 
food  is  not  adapted  to  his  needs,  or  he  is  not 
exercising  enough  to  acquire  a  taste  for  whole- 
some food,  or  he  is  not  eliminating  poisons.  A 
healthy  child  whose  taste  is  unspoiled  will  thor- 
oughly enjoy  bread  which  is  not  highly  flavored 
or  sweetened.  He  will  like  potatoes  without 
pepper.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  put  sauces 
of  any  kind  on  his  meats.  In  short,  the  less 
flavoring  the  better  in  a  child's  foods.  When 
they  are  highly  seasoned  he  is  likely  to  over-eat. 
There  is  an  artificial  stimulation  which  leads  the 
child  beyond  reasonable  bounds  in  his  eating. 
A  healthy  child,  living  an  active  life,  has  a  vigor- 
ous appetite  anyway,  and  it  should  not  be  excited 
by  any  article  the  purpose  of  which  is  principally 
to  stimulate. 

Over-eating. —  Some  children  habitually  over- 
eat, even  when  the  food  is  not  artificially  sea- 
soned. A  child  in  the  country  who  is  out-of-doors 
and  muscularly  active  most  of  his  waking  life  is 
not  very  apt  to  over-eat.  People  in  the  country, 
children  especially,  do  not  eat  as  much  ordinarily 
as  children  in  towns  and  cities,  for  the  reason 


44  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

that  there  is  not  so  much  and  so  great  a  variety 
of  food  and  it  is  not  made  so  tempting.  Over- 
eating is  a  potent  source  of  digestive  disorders 
and  ^^ colds''  in  young  children  in  the  city.  A 
child  who  is  over-fed  is  in  a  good  condition  to 
take  any  disease  which  may  be  in  the  air  at  the 
time. 

Parents  often  force  food  on  their  children 
under  the  illusion  that  the  more  a  child  eats  the 
better  it  will  be  for  him.  One  often  sees  city 
children  who  have  but  little  muscular  activity, 
and  Nature  reduces  their  appetite  as  a  protec- 
tion. They  may  often  not  wish  any  breakfast,  or 
they  will  leave  the  table  at  luncheon  or  dinner 
before  all  the  courses  have  been  completed. 
Then  their  parents  begin  to  worry  about  them,  and 
urge  them  to  take  more  food  than  they  care  for. 
This  is  all  wrong.  Nature  is  a  much  better  guide 
in  this  matter  than  the  typical  parent,  who  fre- 
quently has  himself  formed  habits  of  taking  too 
much  food,  so  that  he  may  eat  clear  through  a 
four-  or  five-course  dinner  when  a  very  moderate 
indulgence  in  only  two  courses  would  be  much 
better  for  him.  Normally  a  young  child  will  eat 
breakfast  and  be  ready  to  take  food  at  every  meal. 
But  if  occasionally  he  says  he  is  not  hungry  the 
parent  ought  on  no  account  to  urge  him  to  eat 
more  than  he  wishes.  There  is  slight  danger  that 
a  healthy  child  will  be  injured  by  abstinence  when 
he  has  an  opportunity  to  secure  food.    The  danger 


HEALTH  TRAINING  45 

is  generally  on  the  other  side  in  modem  life,  at 
least  in  the  town  and  the  city.  This  is  especially 
the  case  when  children  are  allowed  to  eat  between 
meals,  and  to  be  nibbling  most  of  the  time. 

Making  Children  Too  Fastidious. — ^When 
parents  fuss  over  a  child  because  he  does  not  eat 
enough,  he  may  sometimes  develop  the  habit  of 
not  taking  as  much  as  he  needs.  This  is  due  to 
a  peculiar  trait  which  psychologists  call  **  con- 
trary suggestion.''  If  one  should  suggest  to  a 
certain  type  of  child  that  he  should  go  for  a 
walk  he  would  insist  upon  remaining  at  home, 
whereas  if  he  should  be  asked  to  remain  at  home 
he  would  insist  on  taking  a  walk.  He  usually 
wants  to  do  the  opposite  of  what  is  suggested  to 
him.  Under  certain  conditions,  every  child  will 
resist  the  domination  of  parents  or  governesses 
or  teachers  or  even  playmates.  So  when  a  parent 
keeps  at  a  child  because  he  does  not  eat  potatoes, 
say,  when  he  declares  he  does  not  like  them,  and 
when  this  takes  place  at  every  meal  day  after 
day,  the  child  is  apt  to  acquire  a  fixed  idea 
against  eating  potatoes.  If  this  continues  long 
enough  it  may  become  almost  abnormal  so  that 
the  child  develops  a  positive  aversion  to  potatoes. 
Life-long  antipathies  to  certain  foods  are  ac- 
quired by  this  kind  of  training. 

A  wiser  course  would  be  for  a  parent  to  make 
all  the  wholesome  foods  reasonably  attractive, 
and  then  not  to  urge  them  on  his  child.     If  the 


46  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

parent  is  afraid  the  child  is  not  eating  enough 
the  proper  way  is  to  change  his  habits  of  living, 
to  reduce  his  allowance  of  sugar  and  candy,  to 
have  him  out-of-doors  more  than  he  is  accus- 
tomed to  be,  working  with  his  hands  and  playing 
vigorous  games.  Under  such  conditions  Nature 
will  create  an  appetite  which  will  make  all  whole- 
some foods  agreeable  and  even  delicious.  No  one 
can  make  a  child  like  an  article  by  commanding 
him  to  eat  it.  On  the  contrary,  the  very  fact  that 
it  is  urged  on  him  tends  to  make  him  feel  that 
there  is  something  about  it  which  is  disagree- 
able. This  is  true  not  only  of  food  by  of  prac- 
tically all  experiences.  What  one  is  compelled 
to  do  is  likely  to  be  looked  upon  as  distasteful, 
and  hostility  to  it  may  be  engendered. 

Meat  Not  the  Best  Food  for  Children. — 
Parents  often  urge  meat  on  their  children  thinking 
it  is  of  especial  value.  There  is  a  popular  belief 
that  meat  is  a  strengthening  food,  and  the  more 
that  is  eaten  of  it  the  better.  This  is  a  serious 
error,  particularly  as  it  relates  to  young  chil- 
dren. It  would  be  better  for  children  to  have  no 
meat  at  all  than  to  have  too  much.  And  how  much 
is  too  much?  It  is  enough  for  a  child  under  five 
or  six  years  to  have  a  moderate  allowance  of 
meat  once  every  other  day.  Probably  the  best 
meat  for  young  children  is  chicken  or  lamb, 
though  there  is  not  much  choice  between  the 
meats  found  on  the  tables  in  American  homes. 


HEALTH  TRAINING,  47 

Occasionally  one  finds  a  child  who  cannot  readily 
digest  duck  or  goose.  But  even  with  these  chil- 
dren a  moderate  amount  of  either  variety  at  in- 
frequent intervals  is  not  likely  to  cause  trouble. 
The  principal  thing  to  be  guarded  against  is  an 
excessive  amount  of  flesh  food.  Meat  is  stimulat- 
ing to  many  children;  when  it  is  indulged  in 
freely  they  are  apt  to  be  restless,  sleepless,  and 
easily  irritated.  A  parent  who  is  giving  her  four- 
oF five-year-old  child  meat  three  times  a  day,  and 
who  is  complaining  about  his  irritability,  his  bad 
temper,  and  his  restlessness  at  night,  ought  to  cut 
down  his  allowance  to  one  quarter  of  what  he  has 
been  accustomed  to.  In  place  of  the  meat  the 
child  should  have  an  egg  and  an  additional 
allowance  of  milk,  both  of  which  articles  furnish 
albumin  in  a  better  form  for  young  children  than 
does  meat. 

The  white  of  egg  is  very  rich  in  albimain,  and 
the  yolk  is  rich  in  fat.  When  both  the  yolk  and 
the  white  are  cooked  to  the  consistency  of  jelly, 
but  are  not  cooked  hard,  they  can  be  readily 
digested  by  practically  all  children.  Every 
mother  should  know  how  to  cook  eggs  in  a  variety 
of  ways,  so  that  they  will  be  palatable  and  digest- 
ible, and  she  should  also  know  how  to  use  them 
in  puddings  and  the  like;  and  when  they  are 
thus  freely  used  in  a  child's  dietary  meat  can  be 
reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Also  in  place   of  meat   nuts   should   be   used 


48  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

freely.  Salted  peanuts,  well  chewed,  can  be 
readily  digested  by  practically  all  children  after 
they  have  cnt  their  teeth.  Any  of  the  familiar 
nuts,  when  roasted,  can  usually  be  easily  digested 
and  they  are  ordinarily  greatly  relished.  They 
contain  the  essential  elements  of  food  in  con- 
densed form. 

By  a  liberal  use  of  eggs,  milk,  nuts,  and  the 
whole  of  wheat  and  corn  in  cereals  and  breads, 
meat  can  be  dispensed  with  almost  altogether. 
A  child  will  be  amply  nourished  without  getting 
the  waste  material  contained  in  meat. 

Stimulating  Beverages. —  It  seems  incredible, 
but  sometimes  parents  give  young  children  tea, 
coffee,  cocoa,  and  coca  cola.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
no  young  child  can  develop  healthfully  who  habit- 
ually drinks  any  of  these.  Many  people  think 
cocoa  is  a  good  food;  but  it  contains  an  alkaloid 
stimulant,  though  in  much  less  degree  than  any 
of  the  others  mentioned.  If  cocoa  be  highly 
diluted  with  milk  it  can  be  used  sparingly  by  a 
young  child,  but  it  would  be  better  to  take  it  in 
the  middle  of  the  day  than  at  night.  Children  may 
be  kept  awake  by  drinking  cocoa  a,t  bed-time, 
and  then  the  parent  wonders  what  is  the  matter 
with  them.  It  sometimes  happens,  too,  that  even 
young  children  acquire  the  chocolate  habit,  and 
they  eat  an  excessive  amount  and  are  restless, 
sleepless  and  irritable.  The  safer  course  for  a 
parent  would  be  to   eliminate   tea,   coffee,   and 


HEALTH  TRAINING  iO 

cocoa  completely  from  a  young-  child 's  dietary, 
and  use  milk  instead. 

Investigations  made  upon  school  pupils  who 
drink  these  beverages  show  that  they  are  gen- 
erally deficient  in  their  studies,  and  they  are 
more  difficult  to  manage.  In  a  certain  sense  they 
are  poisoned  all  the  time.  Some  children  can 
endure  them  better  than  others,  but  no  child 
can  endure  them  without  some  loss.  A  child  does 
not  need  any  of  them.  If  a  parent  wishes  to 
vary  a  child's  beverage  let  her  give  him  fruit 
juices — orange  juice,  sweet  apple  juice,  weak 
lemonade,  and  the  like.  Fruit  juices,  if  not 
taken  in  too  concentrated  a  form,  will  be  of  ad- 
vantage in  digestion,  besides  being  palatable  and 
refreshing.  The  digestion  of  food  is  a  chemical 
process,  and  some  of  the  fruit  acids  can  be 
utilized  in  this  process.  In  addition,  fruit  acids 
are  stimulating  to  the  eliminative  organs,  and  so 
they  assist  the  body  to  get  rid  of  its  wastes. 

II 

Hardening  the  Body, —  An  infant's  skin  is 
accustomed  to  a  temperature  of  about  98  3/5  de- 
grees./ It  must  be  kept  at  about  this  temperature 
for  some  time,  so  the  bath  should  be  98  3/5  de- 
grees. ?  The  clothing  should  be  warm  enough  to 
prevent  chilling,  but  it  should  be  porous.  Loosely 
woven    garments    best    protect    the    body    from 


50  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

chilling,  and  they  permit  of  the  escape  of  un- 
necessary heat  and  moisture.  A  parent  should 
keep  in  mind  that  the  body  of  a  child  is  a  sort 
of  furnace,  constantly  generating  heat  for  the  pur- 
pose of  keeping  the  body  up  to  a  temperature  of 
98  3/5  degrees.  The  skin  is  a  regulator  to  pre- 
vent the  loss  of  heat  when  needed,  but  also  to 
allow  for  its  radiation  when  it  is  not  required. 
Ordinarily  the  body  will  demand  more  food  when 
it  is  not  well  protected,  so  that  it  must  generate 
a  large  amount  of  heat.  Also  it  will  reject  food 
when  it  is  over-protected  so  that  food  is  not 
needed  for  the  maintenance  of  heat.  Through 
proper  attention  the  body  can  gradually  be 
trained  so  that  it  will  adjust  itself  effectively  to 
the  conditions  under  which  it  must  live.  But  the 
skin  of  the  new-born  child  is  not  able  to  make 
adjustments  to  widely  varying  conditions,  espe- 
cially in  the  matter  of  temperature,  and  so  it 
must  be  specially  protected.  By  the  time  the 
child  is  six  months  old,  however,  the  temperature 
of  the  bath  can  be  reduced  one  degree  at  a  time ; 
and  the  hardening  of  the  body  should  be  begiin 
as  early  as  this.  It  is  best  to  have  the  bath 
always  at  a  neutral  temperature  of  98  3/5  degrees 
when  the  child  is  first  put  into  it,  but  to  intro- 
duce a  little  cold  water  before  he  is  taken  out. 
By  the  time  he  is  two  years  of  age  it  should  be 
possible  for  him  to  endure  a  temperature  as 
low  as  85  desrrees  before  he  leaves  his  bath.     A 


HEALTH  TRAINING  51 

healthy  child  should  react  beneficially  to  cold 
water  gradually  introduced.  The  mother  should 
watch  his  reactions,  and  so  long  as  they  are 
all  right  the  temperature  should  be  reduced. 
By  the  time  he  is  ^ve  years  of  age  he  should  be 
able  to  react  to  a  temperature  of  70  degrees 
before  he  leaves  the  bath.  It  is  highly  desirable 
to  train  the  skin  so  that  it  will  acquire  the  power 
of  reacting  to  sudden  changes  in  temperature; 
the  chief  reason  many  children  have  colds  con- 
stantly is  because  their  skin  is  not  so  trained. 
A  child  should  not  be  kept  in  a  room  heated 
above  70  degrees  after  the  first  six  or  seven 
months.  The  body  can  be  trained  gradually  to 
endure  a  lower  temperature,  until  65  degrees  is 
reached.  The  mother  can  train  the  child  ^s  skin 
to  react  to  an  even  lower  temperature  by  giving 
him  an  air  bath  as  well  as  a  water  bath  every 
day.  Whenever  the  child  is  being  dressed  or 
undressed  the  body  can  be  exposed  for  a  brief 
period,  and  vigorously  rubbed  with  the  hands 
in  a  temperature  of  65  degrees  or  even  a  little 
lower.  Following  the  water  bath  is  a  good 
time  for  training  the  skin  to  react  to  cool  air. 
After  the  second  year  the  child  should  rub  his 
own  body  during  the  air  bath.  Of  course,  he 
should  not  be  exposed  until  he  becomes  chilled; 
and  he  should  not  be  suddenly  exposed  to  a 
low  temperature  under  any  circumstances. 
There  is   no  universal   rule   about   this.      Some 


52  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

children  can  react  more  vigorously  than  others, 
and  they  will  be  benefited  by  a  considerable 
period  of  exposure  with  vigorous  rubbing.  All 
children  after  the  first  year,  unless  they  are  sick, 
can  profit  by  skin  training  so  that  sudden 
changes  in  temperature  will  not  produce  conges- 
tions and  *^ colds.'' 

A  further  word  about  the  bath:  a  vigorous 
five-year-old  child  should  be  able  to  take  a 
moderately  cold  spray  every  morning.  This  is 
the  best  way  to  develop  resistance  to  chills. 
Warm  water,  between  100  and  105  degrees 
should  be  poured  or  sprayed  on  the  body  first, 
and  then  the  cold  should  be  gradually  intro- 
duced, until  at  the  close  of  the  bath  the  water 
should  be  between  60  and  65  degrees.  A  mother 
should  carefully  observe  the  reaction  of  her 
child  to  this  vigorous  treatment.  If  he  comes 
out  of  the  spray  feeling  well,  if  the  skin  reddens, 
if  he  shows  that  he  has  enjoyed  the  experience, 
then  it  is  a  most  excellent  tonic  and  skin  disci- 
pline for  him.  But  if  he  comes  out  shivering, 
if  he  does  not  seem  happy,  if  the  skin  does  not 
quickly  redden,  it  is  evidence  that  a  less  rigor- 
ous program  must  be  followed.  But  an  effort 
should  be  made  to  reduce  the  temperature  grad- 
ually until  it  reaches  50  degrees.  If  the  child 
cannot  react  to  this  temperature  when  the  water 
comes  through  a  spray  then  he  may  be  able  to 
do  it  when  he  is  rubbed  with  a  cold  towel  or 


HEALTH  TRAINING         ,  53 

wash  cloth.  This  does  not  give  as  vigorous 
training  as  a  spray;  but  a  child  who  can  react  to 
this  can  be  gradually  built  up  so  that  he  can 
endure  the  most  vigorous  form  of  bath.  As 
early  as  practicable  the  child  should  himself 
manage  the  spray  so  that  he  will  be  active  while 
he  is  taking  it. 

The  In-door  Habit. —  It  is  necessary  in  present- 
day  American  city  life  to  train  children  spe- 
cially so  they  can  react  to  varying  conditions. 
Formerly  most  of  the  children  lived  in  the 
country.  To-day  most  of  them  live  in  towns 
and  cities.  They  are  in-doors  much  of  the  time 
now,  whereas  formerly  they  were  out-of-doors. 
So  Nature  says  to-day,  **If  a  child  is  going  to 
live  in-doors  there  is  no  need  of  developing  a 
vigorous  skin  and  nervous  mechanism  that  can 
resist  sudden  changes  in  temperature.^'  The 
in-doors  child  then  becomes  adapted  only  to 
quite  uniform  temperature.  If  he  grows  up  in 
this  way  to  the  age  of  five  or  six  his  skin,  nerv- 
ous system,  and  vital  organs  will  acquire  the 
in-door  habit,  which  is  not  easy  to  overcome. 
But  the  chances  are  that  after  the  age  of  five 
the  child  will  frequently  expose  himself  to  sud- 
den changes  of  temperature,  and  every  time  he 
has  such  an  experience  he  will  ^* catch  a  cold.'' 
He  will  be  kept  in  the  house  until  he  recovers, 
when  he  will  again  expose  himself,  and  back  he 
will  go  to  his  bed  again.     Many  American  chil- 


54  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

dren  to-day  catch  something  or  other  every  time 
they  are  exposed  because  they  have  not  been 
hardened  by  proper  training.  The  time  to  begin 
this  training  is  during  the  early  years. 

The  Out-door  Habit. —  The  hardening  of  the 
body  can  be  promoted  by  keeping  the  child  out 
in  the  open  much  of  the  time,  and  without  being 
too  heavily  clothed.  A  vigorous  child  after  the 
age  of  three  or  four,  who  has  had  some  skin 
training  in  the  manner  indicated  above,  might 
very  well  run  out-doors  on  a  crisp  day  without 
hat  or  coat,  provided  that  while  he  is  out  he  is 
constantly  active,  and  provided  also  that  he  is 
not  perspiring  when  he  goes  out.  Many  parents 
do  not  allow  their  children  to  go  out-of-doors 
at  any  time  without  being  wrapped  up,  and  so 
they  do  not  develop  any  hardihood.  Of  course, 
the  matter  must  be  determined  on  the  basis  of 
the  child's  ability  to  resist  sudden  changes  in 
temperature.  It  is  certain  that  a  fragile  child 
who  has  been  accustomed  only  to  warm  rooms, 
and  who  has  had  no  hardening,  ought  not  to 
take  the  chance  of  running  out  without  being 
well  protected.  But  such  a  child  will  be  heavily 
handicapped  in  later  life.  Nature  will  not  de- 
velop vigorous  vital  processes  and  adaptability 
to  changes  when  there  is  no  need  for  this  sort 
of  thing.  She  never  develops  a  power  unless 
it  is  needed.  If  she  does  develop  it,  and  it  is 
not    utilized,    she    will    get    rid    of   it.      If    one 


HEALTH  TRAINING  55 

should  tie  up  his  arm  for  six  months  his  muscles 
would  atrophy.  Nature  would  say,  **What  is 
the  use  of  keeping  muscles  that  are  not  usedf 
In  the  same  way  Nature  will  not  develop  a  body 
that  can  react  to  rigorous  conditions  if  during 
the  early  years  the  child  is  prevented  from  hav- 
ing any  vigorous  experience.  Some  of  the 
ancient  people  understood  this,  and  they  put 
their  children  through  hardening  processes. 
Undoubtedly  their  training  was  rather  too 
heroic  in  some  instances,  with  the  result  that 
the  weaker  children  were  eliminated.  We  think 
we  ought  to  save  all  children  to-day,  and  by 
proper  training  we  can  develop  most  of  them  so 
they  can  survive  the  experiences  of  present-day 
American  life,  and  live  in  reasonable  comfort 
and  freedom  from  disease. 

Ill 

Children  Are  Edsily  Over -excited^- — Young- 
children  are  usually  very  sensitive  to  sounds  or 
movements  of  any  kind.  Most  mothers  realize 
that  when  their  babes  are  asleep  they  must  be 
careful  not  to  make  a  noise  near  them.  The 
child's  nervous  system  seems  to  be  constructed 
on  the  hair-trigger  plan.  Observe  a  group  of 
grown  people  and  children  together.  If  there 
is  any  excitement  it  will  be  noted  that  it  has  a 
more  marked  effect  upon  the  children  than  upon 


56  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

the  adults.  The  latter  can  ignore  many  of  the 
noises  and  movements  occurring  about  them,  but 
it  is  otherwise  with  the  young  child.  One  fre- 
quently sees  babes,  especially  in  cities,  who  are 
constantly  over-excited.  They  show  in  their 
irritability,  in  the  readiness  with  which  they 
cry,  in  the  tense  expression  of  their  faces,  in 
their  inability  to  sleep  restfully,  and  often  in 
disturbances  of  nutrition,  that  the  nervous  sys- 
tem is  overwrought.  If  this  continues  through- 
out childhood  it  is  certain  to  lead  to  serious  con- 
sequences. Not  only  will  such  a  child  tend  to 
become  neurotic  and  so  suffer  from  every  kind 
of  ill  in  maturity,  but  he  will  be  likely  not  to  get 
his  full  growth.  Anything  which  will  disturb 
nutrition  will  interfere  with  growth. 

City  Life  Is  Likely  to  Over-excite  Children. — 
City  life  is  exciting  for  persons  of  all  ages,  but 
particularly  so  for  young  people.  The  city  is 
full  of  noises  and  movement.  The  advent  of  the 
automobile  has  contributed  to  the  restlessness 
of  the  city.  Children  can  hardly  fail  to  be 
aroused  too  much  by  the  constant  swift  move- 
ment and  the  noise  made  by  the  automobile,  as 
well  as  by  other  exciting  and  over-stimulating 
agencies.  Medical  examiners  in  cities  find  a 
considerable  proportion  of  children  suffering 
from  marked  nervous  disturbances.  They  are 
in  such  a  tense  state  that  they  feel  ill-at-ease 
when  they  go  to  the  country  or  any  quiet  place. 


HEALTH  TRAINING  57 

This  is  found  to  be  the  case  in  large  cities 
throughout  the  world.  In  some  of  the  cities  in 
the  Old  World  as  many  as  a  third  of  the  chil- 
dren early  show  nervous  irregularities  such  as 
St.  Vitus'  Dance  and  the  like.  We  are  not  quite 
so  bad  in  this  country  yet,  but  there  is  no  reason 
wliy  we  should  not  become  so  unless  we  can 
protect  children  from  the  nerve  racking  experi- 
ences of  the  city. 

Reducing  Nervous  Strain  in  the  City. —  One 
way  to  reduce  the  nervous  strain  and  stress  of 
the  city  is  to  provide  public  playgrounds  away 
from  the  excitement  of  the  street.  If  every 
home  could  have  a  playground  of  its  own,  where 
young  children  might  spend  much  of  their  time, 
it  w^ould  help  to  protect  them  fi'om  nervous  over- 
strain. A  big  sandpile  in  a  back  yard  is  a  vastly 
better  place  for  a  child  than  a  city  street;  in 
the  latter  place  he  has  constantly  to  be  on  the 
alert  lest  he  be  run  down  by  a  street  car  or  an 
automobile  or  a  horse.  If  to  the  sandpile  could 
be  added  a  swing,  a  trapeze,  and  a  climbing  lad- 
der, a  child  would  rarely  want  to  go  on  the 
street.  Better  still,  if  there  could  be  space 
enough  for  three  or  four  children  to  play  ball, 
or  tag,  or  racing  games  there  would  not  be 
much  danger  that  they  would  become  over- 
stimulated.  A  parent,  who  has  the  welfare  of 
his  children  chiefly  in  view,  might  better  have  a 
small  house  with  a  playground  in  the  rear,  than 


58  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

a  big  house  set  on  a  busy  street  with  no  quiet 
place  for  his  children  to  play. 

In  some  homes  children  are,  over-stimulated 
by  the  older  members  of  the  family,  and  by 
the  neighbors  who  come  in  to  visit.  It  some- 
times happens  also  that  a  young  child  has  a 
brother  who  likes  to  tease.  The  baby  may  be 
kept  in  a  constant  state  of  excitement  and  irrita- 
tion because  of  the  brother's  annoying  atten- 
tions. Not  infrequently  one  comes  across  a 
home  in  which  there  is  a  dog  that  barks  a  good 
deal.  This  is  likely  to  excite  young  children  too 
greatly,  so  that  at  night  they  will  be  irritable, 
restless,  and  sleepless.  When  this  goes  on  day 
after  day,  nervous  strain  will  be  almost  sure  to 
follow.  Again,  there  are  homes  in  which  chil- 
dren are  kept  keyed  up  nervously  by  friends 
who  insist  upon  paying  them  too  much  atten- 
tion. A  parent  ought  to  arrange  it  so  that 
visitors  will  leave  their  young  children  alone, 
not  even  speaking  to  them  as  a  rule.  The  more 
completely  visitors  leave  children  to  their  own 
devices  the  better  it  will  be  for  them — not  only 
for  their  nervous  and  physical  well-being,  it  may 
be  said,  but  also  for  their  social  training. 
^  Sleep  as  a  Restorer  of  Nervous  Health. — A 
child  cannot  develop  in  a  healthful  way  nerv- 
ously unless  he  forms  regular  habits  with  re- 
spect to  sleep.  A  healthy  infant  sleeps  most 
of  the  time.    A  child  a  year  old  ought  to  sleep 


HEALTH  TRAINING  59 

eighteen  or  twenty  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four. 
A  five-year-old  child  should  sleep  sixteen  hours 
every  day.  The  more  exciting  the  environment 
in  which  the  child  lives  the  greater  is  the  need 
for  sleep  to  counteract  over-strain  and  restore 
nervous  vigor.  Unfortunately  the  conditions 
which  over-excite  children  make  it  difficult  for 
them  to  secure  restful  sleep.  'Noise  is  always  a 
disturbing  factor.  Experiments  show  that  even 
when  a  person,  a  child  especially,  is  accustomed 
to  a  noise  he  still  shows  some  disturbance  when 
it  is  made  while  he  is  sleeping.  He  may  not  be- 
come fully  awake,  but  he  will  be  partly  aroused, 
and  so  he  will  not  gain  full  benefit  from  his 
sleep.  This  requires  that  a  parent  should  do 
everything  reasonable  to  preserve  quiet  while  his 
children  are  sleeping.  Sleeping  rooms  should 
be  away  from  noisy  streets.  They  should  be 
removed  as  far  as  possible  from  living  rooms 
and  all  sources  of  noise  or  excitement  of  any 
kind. 

^  Conditions  That  Disturb  Sleep.-^  Quite  fre- 
quently young  children  are  unable  to  sleep 
soundly  even  in  a  quiet  environment  because  the 
breathing  passages  are  obstructed  by  adenoid 
tissue  or  enlarged  tonsils,  and  it  seems  that  the 
proportion  of  children  who  suffer  from  these 
difficulties  is  constantly  increasing.  If  a  child 
breathes  through  the  mouth  in  sleeping  it  is 
stron^:   evidence    of   adenoids:    if   the   mouth   is 


60  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

kept  open  during  the  waking  hours  it  is  con- 
clusive evidence.  Usually  a  child  so  afflicted 
cannot  sleep  restfully.  He  will  struggle  during 
the  night  to  get  his  breath.  When  he  falls  asleep 
the  nervous  system  relaxes  and  the  adenoid 
tissue  obstructs  the  breathing  passages.  This 
is  disastrous  to  health,  particularly  to  the  de- 
velopment of  nervous  vigor.  Enlarged  tonsils 
may  have  much  the  same  effect  as  adenoids,  and 
they  are  also  apt  to  become  foci  for  the  develop- 
ment of  toxins.  A  child  suffering  from  either 
of  these  troubles  ought  to  have  them  remedied 
as  early  as  possible. 

A  child  may  also  be  kept  in  an  irritable,  sleep- 
less condition  because  of  pressure  of  developing 
teeth  upon  nerves.  When  a  child  is  cutting 
teeth  there  is  likely  to  be  some  disturbances  of 
this  kind.  When  the  parent  can  arrange  for  it 
he  should  have  an  X-ray  picture  taken  of  his 
children's  jaws  when  the  teeth  are  coming 
through.  This  picture  will  sometimes  show  con- 
ditions in  the  development  of  the  teeth  which 
are  certain  to  produce  nervous  disturbances. 
When  the  source  of  the  irritation  is  discovered 
it  is  generally  poss^ible  to  remove  it,  but  with- 
out the  X-ray  picture  it  is  often  difficult  to 
locate  it.  Every  up-to-date  dentist  should  be 
equipped  with  facilities  for  making  X-ray  pic- 
tures of  the  teeth,  for  in  no  other  way  can  some 
of  the  most  serious  difficulties  be  discovered. 


HEALTH  TRAINING  61 

IV 

Neglect  of  an  Important  Health  Factor. — 
There  has  recently  been  much  discussion  of  the 
hygienic  care  of  the  eye,  the  ear,  the  throat,  the 
lungs,  and  the  nervous  and  digestive  systems, 
but  not  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
hygiene  of  the  locomotive  apparatus,  and  espe- 
cially the  foot.  As  these  lines  are  being  written, 
however,  the  newspapers  are  reporting  that 
several  organizations  working  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  health  of  our  people  are  starting  a 
campaign  to  reforai  our  customs  in  dressing  the 
feet.  They  are  aiming  especially  to  have  the 
young,  as  well  as  older  persons,  see  the  neces- 
sity of  wearing  shoes  which  do  not  prevent 
the  feet  from  performing  one  important  func- 
tion— the  protection  of  the  body  against  shock 
in  walking  or  running. 

Again,  it  is  just  beginning  to  be  appreciated 
that  health  depends  in  considerable  measure 
upon  posture.  Much  attention  has  been  aroused 
by  Alexander's  recent  book,  ^^ Man's  Supreme 
Inheritrnce, ' '  in  which  he  ascribes  health  and 
the  control  of  animal  habits  very  largely  to 
posture.  He  maintains  that  man  can  free  him- 
self from  his  animal  inheritance  only  as  he  de- 
velops conscious  control  of  his  muscles  and  as- 
sumes a  posture  which  will  stimulate  and  sus- 
tain   the    higher    emotions.      It    has    long    been 


/^ 


62  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

known  that  the  posture  one  assumes  has  an  in- 
fluence upon  his  ethical  and  moral  attitudes. 
If  one  habitually  assumes  a  slouchy  attitude  he 
will  develop  a  slouchy  disposition.  If  he  as- 
sumes an  attitude  of  fear  he  will  develop  a 
timid,  shrinking  disposition.  On  the  contrary, 
if  he. takes  the  attitude  of  courage,  his  courage- 
ous emotions  will  gain  control  over  his  fears. 
And  so  on  throughout  the  whole  range  of  one's 
feelings  and  ethical  attitudes. 

Posture  Affected  by  the  Development  of  the 
Foot, —  The  development  of  the  foot  plays  an 
important  part  in  posture.  A  flat  foot,  a  broken 
arch,  a  contracted  foot  base,  all  play  an  im- 
portant role  in  leading  one  to  assume  an  un- 
heal thful  posture.  If  any  one  doubts  this,  let 
him  experiment  with  himself  in  the  matter  of 
the  height  of  the  heel  of  his  shoes.  If  he  has 
been  accustomed  to  wear  shoes  with  low  heels 
and  then  if  he  changes  to  high  heels  he  will 
notice  a  marked  effect  upon  the  whole  postural 
system;  and  the  effect  will  be  marked,  though 
different,  if  he  changes  from  high  to  low  heels. 
In  the  same  way  if  he  could  make  a  sudden 
change  from  an  arched  to  a  flat  foot  he  would 
be  impressed  with  the  relation  of  the  arch  to 
posture. 

Nature  has  so  constructed  the  foot  that  it 
will  support  the  body  on  the  heel  and  the  ball 
when  the  body  is  held  in  a  plumb  line,  and  it 


HEALTH  TRAINING  63 

will  serve  as  a  shock  absorber  in  walking  or 
running.  In  designing  the  instep  Nature  used 
seven  rounded  bones;  and  she  used  five  slender 
bones  for  the  ball  of  the  foot  and  fourteen  bones 
for  the  toes.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  play  in 
these  bones,  more  in  the  foot  of  a  baby  than  in 
the  foot  of  the  adult;  but  in  a  foot  that  has  not 
been  mistreated  there  should  be  plasticity  to  the 
end  of  life.  And  plasticity  is  necessary  in  order 
that  the  nervous  system  and  vital  organs  may 
be  protected  from  harmful  shock  in  walking. 

Life  in  the  City  Gives  Rise  to  a  New  Prob- 
lem.—  This  latter  point  should  be  more  fully 
appreciated  by  practically  all  parents  than  it 
seems  to  be.  Most  persons  do  all  their  walking 
on  cement  or  hard  surfaces.  But  when  the 
human  organism  was  developed  there  were  no 
hard  surfaces.  Men  walked  on  the  soft  earth. 
Even  so,  nature  built  the  foot  so  that  the  shock 
of  walking  would  be  broken  by  the  arches.  But 
now  when  we  all  walk  on  very  hard  surfaces, 
it  is  of  special  importance  that  the  natural  con- 
struction and  plasticity  of  the  foot  should  be 
preserved.  If  the  arch  is  broken  or  if  a  shoe 
is  worn  which  prevents  it  from  playing  its  role 
as  a  shock  absorber,  the  entire  organism  will 
suffer  to  a  greater  or  less  degree. 

If  the  readers  of  these  lines  who  have  an 
experimental  turn  of  mind  will  observe  people 
walking  on  cement  sidewalks  or  even  on  floors 


64  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

in  houses,  they  will  discover  that  in  some  cases 
every  mobile  part  of  the  body  shakes.  Suppose 
this  occurs  for  four  or  five  hours  during  the 
day.  What  condition  will  the  walker  be  in  at 
night?  The  chances  are  that  he  will  be  nervous, 
irritable,  and  he  may  suffer  actual  distress  in 
organs  that  have  been  enduring  shocks  through- 
out the  day. 

There  are  two  arches  in  a  baby's  foot;  one  at 
the  instep  with  which  every  parent  is  familiar 
and  a  less  conspicuous  one  in  the  ball  of  the 
foot.  As  the  baby  develops  the  arch  at  the 
instep  becomes  more  marked.  As  intimated 
above,  the  baby's  foot  is  very  pliable;  the  toes 
can  be  managed  almost  as  well  as  the  fingers, 
though  the  big  toe  cannot  be  coordinated  with 
the  other  toes  as  the  thumb  can  be  with  the 
fingers.  Now,  the  arches  and  the  pliability  of 
the  foot  can  be  preserved  only  by  wearing  shoes 
built  on  the  natural  lines  of  the  foot.  This  re- 
quires that  the  heels  must  be  low,  and  the  shank 
must  be  straight  so  that  if  you  put  the  two 
shoes  together  they  Avill  touch  throughout  the 
inner  line.  The  toe  of  the  shoe  must  be  broad 
so  as  not  to  compress  the  toes  of  the  foot.  Care 
should  be  taken  to  protect  the  child's  foot  from 
bunions  or  calluses,  which  are  really  deformi- 
ties, and  which  are  often  a  source  of  pain. 
Bunions  and  calluses  are  evidence  that  ill-fitting 
shoes  have  been  worn.     They  have  rubbed  the 


Through   games   and   plays  children  learn  to  adapt  themselves 

to  one  anothor.     Thoy  g-ain  thpir  most  valuable 

social  lessons  In  this  way. 


Children    are   boi-n    actors.    Thoy   learn    the   world    in    which    they 

live  larg-ely  by  imitation,  and  they  should  have 

opportunities   for  dramatization. 


HEALTH  TRAINING  65 

skin  at  prominent  points  and  nature  has  sought 
to  develop  a  protection  by  thickening  the  skin 
at  these  points. 

Girls  Are  the  Chief  Sufferers. —  Unfortun- 
ately, girls  have  suffered  more  from  unhygienic 
shoes  than  have  boys.  The  physical  examinations 
of  young  women  upon  entering  high  school  and 
college  has  shown  that  a  large  proportion  of 
them  have  mis-shapen  feet  due  to  the  wearing 
of  high  heels,  pointed  toes,  and  very  tight  shoes 
throughout.  We  have  condemned  the  Chinese 
because  they  deliberately  deform  their  girls' 
feet,  but  we  do  something  of  the  same  sort  of 
thing  in  our  country,  though  we  do  not  go  to 
such  extremes  as  the  Chinese  do. 

One  often  hears  girls  say  that  if  they  did  not 
w^ear  high-heeled,  stiff-shanked  shoes  the  arches 
of  their  feet  would  break.  This  may  be  true 
with  persons  who  have  long  worn  such  shoes. 
The  muscles  of  the  arches  are  strong  enough  to 
protect  the  arch  from  collapsing  provided  the 
muscles  are  exercised  properly  from  childhood 
through  youth  and  into  adult  life;  but  when  the 
muscles  are  not  used,  then,  of  course,  they  de- 
teriorate. If  one  should  not  use  the  muscles  of 
his  arm  for  a  year  they  would  atrophy.  If  one 
should  lie  in  bed  for  six  months  he  could  not 
stand  at  the  end  of  that  time.  In  the  same  way 
the  muscles  of  the  feet  will  become  weak  if  they 
are  not  used.     It  is  absurd,  though,  for  one  to 


66  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

say  that  the  support  of  hig-h-heelecl,  stiff- 
shanked  shoes  is  needed  for  an  arch  that  has 
not  been  misused  throughout  childhood  and 
youth. 

One  can  heartily  commend  the  growing  prac- 
tice of  wearing  resilient  rubber  on  the  heels 
and  even  on  the  soles  of  shoes.  No  matter  how 
low  the  heel  of  a  shoe  may  be,  it  is  impossible 
to  eliminate  all  shock  in  walking  on  cement  and 
hardwood  surfaces  unless  the  heel  is  made  of 
yielding  material.  In  purchasing  shoes  parents 
should  give  preference  to  those  that  promise  to 
protect  the  wearer  most  effectively  from  shock, 
while  at  the  same  time  protecting  him  from  the 
cold  and  wet.  These  hygienic  qualities  can  be 
found  in  shoes  that  are  trim  and  artistic. 


Habits  That  Weaken  Resistance. —  The  fol- 
lowing letter  from  a  New  York  woman  presents 
a  problem  which  is  troubling  a  large  proportion 
of  the  people  in  this  country: 

**In  my  family  there  is  something  wrong.  In 
my  father's  family  there  were  eleven  who  lived 
to  a  good  age;  in  my  husband's  father's  family 
there  were  seven;  in  his  mother's  family  there 
were  eight,  all  strong  and  vigorous.  Their 
parents  evidently  got  along  well  with  their 
work,  while  I  am  often  overtaxed  in  caring  for 


HEALTH  TRAINING  67 

three  children,  none  of  whom  are  any  too 
strong.  I  see  the  same  condition  of  affairs 
around  me,  even  though  families  are  growing 
smaller.  Cannot  someone  find  the  trouble  and 
the  remedy?  The  doctors  say  ^get  more  fresh 
air,  sleep  with  open  windows,  eat  simple  foods.' 
At  the  same  time  we  may  look  around  and  see 
foreigners  with  as  large  families  as  ours  used  to 
be,  crowded  into  small,  poorly  ventilated  shacks, 
eating  the  poorest  of  unhygienic  food.  For  in- 
stance, an  Italian  babe  may  be  quieted  with  an 
ear  of  green  corn  that  would  give  ours  the  colic, 
and  yet  they  are  strong  and  vigorous.^' 

Nature  is  economical.  She  husbands  her 
energies  carefully  in  constructing  a  human 
being  as  in  all  her  other  undertakings.  She 
will  not  develop  or  maintain  large  muscles,  far 
instance,  when  an  individual  does  not  need  to 
use  them.  She  will  not  keep  the  teeth  in  repair 
if  they  are  not  required  to  grind  hard,  coarse 
food.  She  will  not  maintain  a  system  of  vigor- 
ous internal  organs  if  one  in  his  work  can  get 
along  without  them.  If  one  could  live  upon 
tablets  containing  all  the  elements  of  nutrition, 
but  which  would  not  require  digestion,  nature 
would  in  time  subordinate  the  digestive  mechan- 
ism. If  one  should  bandage  his  eye,  he  would 
gradually  lose  his  vision  simply  because  nature 
would  not  preserve  the  veiy  delicate  structures 
required  for  sight. 


68  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

Nature  always  aims  to  construct  and  maintain 
organs  so  that  they  will  be  best  adapted  to  the 
special  work  they  have  to  do.  One  can  see  this 
illustrated  in  the  case  of  animals.  Take,  for 
instance,  a  horse  which  must  live  out-of-doors 
in  winter.  Nature  will  develop  a  thick  fur  and  a 
relatively  insensitive  skin  as  a  protection 
against  wind  and  weather.  Now  put  this  same 
horse  in  a  warm  stable.  Cover  him  over  with 
a  blanket  every  time  he  goes  out-doors.  Feed 
him  on  oats  and  prepared  food  instead  of  on 
straw.  Nature  will  then  say:  **This  horse  does 
not  need  a  heavy  fur.  The  skin  does  not  need 
to  be  coarsened  or  toughened.  Therefore  I  will 
develop  a  thin  fur,  and  will  leave  the  skin 
sensitive.  I  will  not  make  the  digestive  organs 
so  vigorous,  and  will  not  turn  so  much  of  the 
horse's  energy  in  that  direction." 

One  never  sees  a  horse-trainer  who  knows 
his  business  who  will  leave  a  high-bred  horse 
out-of-doors  feeding  at  a  straw  stack  all  winter. 
He  knows  that  in  order  to  develop  the  greatest 
speed  of  his  horses,  he  must  protect  them  from 
the  weather  and  must  not  use  up  energy  in  the 
digestion  of  innutritions  food.  But  when  a 
trainer  protects  his  horses  in  this  way,  he  re- 
duces their  power  of  resistance  to  cold  and  hard 
usage.  Take  a  highly  developed  horse  which 
has  been  kept  in  a  warm  stable  for  a  part  of 
the  winter  and  fed  on  prepared  food,  and  then 


HEALTH  TRAINING  69 

turn  him  out  to  the  straw  stack  without 
any  protection.  He  will  perish.  Nature  has 
equipped  him  with  reference  to  life  in  a  warm 
stable  and  special  food  and  she  cannot  change 
her  program  over  night. 

A  Natural  Law;  Disuse  Leads  to  Decay  — 
See  how  this  law  of  nature  applies  to  human 
life.  Our  remote  ancestors  were  better  endowed 
muscularly  than  we  are  to-day.  They  had  greater 
biceps  and  leg  and  jaw  muscles.  They  needed 
them  in  their  business.  They  were  in  competi- 
tion with  the  beasts  of  the  forest;  and  in  a  life 
of  this  kind  muscle  is  the  chief  requirement. 
The  mien  of  to-day  have  in  a  sense  degenerated 
muscularly.  And  why?  Because  nature  has 
concluded  that  tremendous  biceps  and  leg  and 
jaw  muscles  would  be  a  handicap  rather  than 
a  help  to  most  men  to-day  since  intelligence  has 
come  to  take  the  place  of  muscle. 

Men  who  have  worked  hard  up  to  fifty,  say, 
and  then  retire  go  to  pieces  rapidly  as  a  rule. 
Nature  says:  ''What  is  the  use  of  keeping  up 
these  muscles  and  internal  organs  and  mental 
faculties  now  that  the  man  has  no  need  of 
them  I"  And  so  she  proceeds  to  get  rid  of 
them;  which  means   that  the  man  degenerates. 

And  the  most  serious  aspect  of  this  is  that 
nature  always  attaches  penalties  to  decay.  What 
she  has  built  up  she  does  not  like  to  have  de- 
stroyed.    If   she  has   developed  big  biceps,  for 


70  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

instance,  and  a  man  does  not  use  tliem  and  they 
begin  to  deteriorate,  they  will  be  a  constant 
source  of  aches  and  pains;  and  the  same  is  true 
of  every  muscle  and  every  organ.  Nature  is 
seen  here  in  a  double  role;  she  destroys  or 
weakens  organs  that  are  not  needed  in  the  indi- 
vidual's life,  and  at  the  same  time  she  heaps 
severe  penalties  upon  the  individual  who  per- 
mits his  organs  to  decay.  This  is  the  reason 
why  most  men  who  live  an  intellectual  life  have 
to  take  physical  exercise  of  some  sort,  even 
though  they  may  detest  it.  In  any  large  univer- 
sity there  are  literally  hundreds  of  men  who 
would  like  to  spend  every  moment  of  waking  life 
at  their  intellectual  tasks,  but  they  have  to  take 
an  hour  or  two  every  day  merely  to  use  their 
muscles  and  stimulate  their  internal  organs  so 
as  to  keep  them  from  degenerating. 

The  Intellectual  vs.  the  Physical. —  Nature 
has  apparently  not  yet  been  able  to  develop  the 
body  so  that  one  can  lead  a  purely  intellectual 
life.  But  is  she  seeking  to  do  just  this!  Civili- 
zation is  a  result  of  the  ascendancy  of  the  in- 
tellectual over  the  physical.  Nature  is  striving 
all  the  time  to  reduce  the  physical  and  exalt  the 
mental.  She  is  using  parents,  teachers,  min- 
isters, legislators,  and  others  to  accomplish  her 
purpose.  They  are  all  exalting  the  mental  in 
modern  life  to  the  subjugation  of  the  physical. 
Parents  desire  their  children  to  be  educated  so 


HEALTH  TRAINING  71 

that  they  may  win  a  livelihood  by  their  intelli- 
gence rather  than  by  their  muscles.  Teachers 
are  working  in  the  same  direction.  Ministers 
exhort  people  to  live  an  ethical,  moral,  and  re- 
ligious life,  which  necessitates  the  denial  of 
physical  desires  largely.  Our  remote  ancestors 
indulged  their  physical  impulses  without  re- 
straint, but  we  will  not  tolerate  such  a  regime 
today.  Everywhere  there  is  strain  and  stress 
to  subdue  the  physical,  and  to  get  rid  of  muscu- 
lar effort  through  the   exercise   of  intelligence. 

A  person  could  spend  his  life  in  a  small  room 
to-day  in  any  part  of  the  civilized  world,  and 
still  be  in  contact  with  the  whole  world.  He 
could  accumulate  wealth  without  ever  leaving 
his  room.  He  could  direct  the  operation  of 
armies  of  men  without  ever  seeing  them.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  some  of  the  men  who  have 
achieved  fabulous  fortunes,  and  have  been  of 
inestimable  service,  as  we  think,  to  mankind, 
have  lived  a  life  of  seclusion.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  we  are  living  in  an  intellectual  age 
when  intelligence  dominates  muscle. 

The  man  who  can  issue  his  commands  and 
mate  his  inquiries  by  telephone  or  telegraph 
will  push  ahead  of  the  man  who  has  to  go  on 
his  own  legs  to  communicate  with  persons  and 
do  his  errands.  The  man  who  gets  to  the  top  to- 
day is  the  one  who  can  make  his  head  do  the 
work  formerly  done  by  arms  and  legs. 


72  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

The  Law  Works  Both  Ways. —  Suppose  one 
could  bring  a  pioneer  of  the  woods  or  the  plains 
into  one  of  our  modem  cities,  and  require  him 
to  live  the  kind  of  life  that  town  and  city  or 
even  country  people  do.  He  would  soon  be 
eliminated.  He  would  die  of  consumption  or 
hardening  of  the  arteries  or  rheumatism  or 
some  other  degenerative  disease.  Nature  would 
have  developed  his  body  and  mind  for  the  out- 
of-doors,  for  dealing  with  crude  physical  con- 
ditions, and  she  could  not  make  the  change  de- 
manded for  adjustment  to  city  life  per  saltum. 
In  the  same  way,  take  a  person  who  is  well 
adjusted  to  the  requirements  of  a  city  life  and 
put  him  on  the  frontier,  and  Nature  would 
speedily  eliminate  him. 

Now,  take  the  story  told  by  the  New  York 
woman.  She  declares  that  her  own  and  her 
husband's  family  for  generations  were  healthier 
than  her  own  children  are.  She  says  she  ob- 
serves families  in  her  neighborhood  in  which 
no  attention  is  given  to  the  children,  and  they 
are  ruggeder  than  her  own.  And  she  concludes 
that  there  must  be  something  going  wrong  in 
her  family. 

The  Physical  Results  of  " Refined' '  Living. — • 
There  is  nothing  the  matter  with  her  family 
which  is  not  the  matter  with  the  majority  of 
families  in  present-day  American  life.  This 
woman  is  bringing  her  children  up  in  a  **re- 


HEALTH  TRAINING  73 

fined''  manner.  She  would  not  let  them  live  in 
the  rough  way  in  which  the  children  in  the 
poorer  families  live.  She  protects  them  for 
two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  she  wants  them 
to  be  more  delicate,  to  be  better  dressed,  to 
look  better  cared  for,  and  to  be  more  polite  in 
their  actions  than  her  neighbor's  children  are. 
In  the  second  place,  she  thinks  they  will  be 
better  off  if  they  are  protected  than  if  they  are 
left  to  eat  coarse  food,  and  be  ill-clad  and  dirty. 
But  when  she  makes  her  children  ** refined," 
she  robs  them  of  their  power  to  combat  disease. 
It  is  exactly  the  same  in  principle  with  a  child 
as  it  is  with  a  highly-bred  race  horse.  One  gets 
refinement  at  the  expense  of  endurance  of  crude, 
harsh  experience.     There  is  no  escape  from  it. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  this  mother  prepares 
her  children's  food  carefully.  Her  dietary  prob- 
ably includes  soft,  delicate,  *^ refined'*  foods 
mainly.  She  probably  has  no  hard  bread,  raw 
vegetables,  or  tough  meat  on  her  table.  But 
these  are  just  the  articles  of  food  that  are  eaten 
by  the  poorer  children  which  this  woman  says 
are  healthier  than  her  own.  Why  shouldn't  it 
be  so? 

One  reason  this  woman's  children  catch  colds 
and  coughs  is  because  while  she  tries  to  protect 
them  whenever  they  run  out-of-doors,  she  can- 
not always  oversee  them,  and  they  expose  them- 
selves, and  they  are  not  trained  to   resist  ex- 


74  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

posure.  They  go  to  school,  and  they  play  along 
the  way  as  the  other  children  do,  most  of  whom 
are  more  hardened  than  they  are,  and  they 
suffer  for  it. 

If  a  child  could  always  be  protected  from 
exposure  there  would  be  no  great  advantage 
in  hardening  him  from  the  beginning.  It  is  an 
exploded  theory  that  you  can  harden  a  child 
in  the  first  year,  and  that  he  will  keep  the  re- 
sistance he  develops  into  maturity  without  fur- 
ther hardening.  Men  who  have  been  brought  up 
in  the  country  accustomed  to  all  kinds  of  ex- 
posure soon  lose  their  ability  to  resist  disease 
if  they  come  into  the  city  to  live  indoors  all  the 
time. 

The  Other  Side  of  the  Problem. —  There  is 
another  side  to  this  problem  as  every  investi- 
gator to-day  knows.  The  child  of  poverty,  ill 
fed  and  exposed  to  the  elements,  often  does  not 
acquire  endurance,  but  instead  is  destroyed. 
The  abnormally  high  death-rate  among  children 
left  to  care  for  themselves  is  a  menace  in  Amer- 
ican life.  If  we  were  still  living  under  primitive 
conditions,  the  neglected  child  might  survive. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  child  in  a  town  or 
city  to-day  can  become  innured  to  a  life  of 
great  exposure,  because  he  must  walk  on  cement 
sidewalks,  breathe  devitalized  indoor  air,  and 
have  his  senses  bombarded  by  the  over-stimu- 
lating  sights    and   sounds    of   modern   life.     He 


HEALTH  TRAINING  75 

cannot  adjust  himself  on  the  one  side  to  the 
highly  exciting,  restrictive,  and  refining  life  of 
civilization,  and  on  the  other  side  to  crude, 
primitive  conditions.  He  is  not  doing  it,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  as  the  statistics  of  child  mortalit.y 
indicate.  So  children  must  be  protected  to  some 
degree  while  at  the  same  time  being  hardened  so 
they  can  endure  the  sort  of  exposure  that  is 
practically  inevitable  in  modern  life. 

The  Solution  of  the  Problem. —  What  then  is 
the  solution  of  our  problem?  First,  there  must 
be  improvement  in  community  hygiene.  For- 
tunately, we  are  making  progress  in  this  regard. 
A  child  of  civilization  cannot  resist  most  con- 
tagious diseases  as  well  as  a  primitive  child 
can;  but  we  are  compensating  for  the  loss  of 
immunity  by  preventing  the  spread  or  con- 
tagious diseases  so  that  children  shall  not  be 
exposed  to  them.  Children  in  the  city  cannot 
endure  unhygienic  conditions  in  the  school- 
room as  well  as  country  children  can;  but  we 
are  making  good  this  loss  by  constantly  improv- 
ing these  conditions.  In  the  pioneer  days  a 
child  could  survive  in  a  schoolroom  heated  with 
an  un jacketed  stove  so  that  if  he  sat  near  it 
he  might  be  80  degrees  on  one  side  and  from 
20  to  40  degrees  lower  on  the  opposite  side. 
Present-day  city  children  would  perish  under 
such  variations  of  temperature.  But  one  rarely 
finds  a  schoolroom  heated  like  that  now,  even 


76  FlKyi   STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

in  the  country,  and  so  we  are  more  than  off- 
setting the  disadvantages  of  refinement  by  the 
advantages  of  a  hygienic  regimen. 

Again,  the  pioneer  child  could  sit  in  a  seat 
ill-adapted  to  him  in  respect  to  every  measure- 
ment of  his  body.  The  present-day  child  woiild 
contract  spinal  curvature  and  other  serious  de- 
fects under  these  conditions.  In  order  to  meet 
the  changing  conditions,  we  are  equipping 
schoolrooms  with  seats  which  can  be  adjusted 
perfectly  to  the  measurements  of  the  individuals 
who  use  them.  And  so  in  regard  to  every  detail 
of  life,  we  are  striving  to  improve  the  hygienic 
conditions  under  which  children  live,  so  that  as 
civilization  and  refinement  proceed  they  will  not 
be  subjected  to  experiences  which  will  overtax 
their  endurance  and  resistance. 

The  problem  of  children's  health  in  our  day 
then  is  largely  a  community  problem.  But  it  is 
also  a  problem  of  the  individual  home.  When 
parents  refine  their  children  faster  than  the 
hygienic  conditions  in  the  community  are  im- 
proved, they  will  weaken  them,  and  they  will 
pay  for  their  lack  of  adjustment  in  pains  and 
aches  and  disease.  A  parent  might  better  take 
the  chance  of  going  too  far  in  hardening  a  child 
by  getting  him  accustomed  from  the  beginning 
to  wind  and  weather  and  deprivation  and 
fatigue  than  of  going  too  far  in  the  opposite 
direction. 


CHAPTER  III 

FIRST  STEPS  IN  ETHICAL  TRAINING 

I 

Nature's  Command  to  the  Child. —  Nature 
sends  the  child  into  life  with  the  command,  **Get 
everything  you  wish  without  regard  to  the  in- 
terests or  desires  of  others.  Look  out  for  your- 
self first,  last  and  all  the  time.^'  One  who  will 
observe  a  child  during  his  first  year  in  his  re- 
lations with  his  father,  mother,  brothers,  and 
sisters,  and  others  with  whom  he  may  come  in 
contact,  cannot  doubt  that  he  endeavors  to  carry 
out  nature  ^s  command.  He  does  not  show  at 
this  early  age  that  he  feels  any  regret  whatso- 
ever on  account  of  the  trouble  he  causes  the 
people  around  him  to  provide  for  his  comfort, 
protection  and  welfare.  Of  course,  he  is  not 
aware  that  he  is  causing  anyone  any  discomfort; 
so  far  as  he  is  concerned  he  is  the  only  one 
who  could  suffer  from  cold  or  hunger  or  loneli- 
ness or  inactivity  or  anything  else.  Also  he  is 
the  only  one  who  could  gain  any  pleasure  from 
play,  or  sweets,  or  a  good  meal  and  the  like. 
He  does  not  reflect  on  these  matters;  he  merely 
acts  with  a  view  to  relieving  his  own  distress 

77 


78  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

and  gratifying  his  own  desires  witliout  the 
slightest  consciousness  that  others  are  like  him- 
self, that  they  suffer  as  he  does  and  gain  pleas- 
ure from  the  things  that  give  him  pleasure. 

One  sometimes  hears  parents  scolding  a  year- 
old  child  because  he  is  selfish,  or  unreasonable 
in  the  demands  he  makes  upon  the  people 
around  him,  or  is  grossly  lacking  in  gratitude 
for  the  service  rendered  him.  But  it  is  foolish 
to  censure  a  child  of  this  age  for  his  faults.  He 
does  not  know  they  are  faults.  He  is  without 
any  ethical  standards  whatsoever.  They  must 
be  developed  in  him  by  proper  training.  The 
fundamental  fact  to  keep  in  mind  in  the  child  ^s 
ethical  training  is  that  by  nature  he  is  wholly 
self-centered.  In  the  earliest  months  he  does 
not  and  cannot  take  the  point  of  view  of  any  one 
but  himself.  He  will  not  share  his  food  because 
he  does  not  realize  that  others  may  be  hungry. 
He  will  strike  a  person  who  interferes  with  his 
pleasures  because  he  does  not  appreciate  that 
the  one  who  is  struck  may  suffer  pain.  He  will 
make  demands  on  his  mother  for  service  when 
she  is  utterly  fatigued,  because  he  does  not 
know  what  fatigue  means.  He  will  squall  until 
he  irritates  every  one  around  him,  because  he 
does  not  know  what  irritation  means.  So  every 
act  he  performs,  no  matter  what  it  may  be  or 
what  its  consequences  to  others  are,  is  done  with- 
out any  consciousness  of  its  effects  upon  others 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  79 

except  as  tliey  \\dll  lead  them  to  serve  him  in 
some  way. 

An  idiot  cannot  learn  that  others  are  con- 
stituted like  himself,  so  that  they  can  suffer  as 
he  does  and  can  gain  pleasure  from  the  things 
that  give  him  pleasure.  He  cannot  be  made  to 
appreciate  that  he  must  repress  his  desires  in 
order  not  to  bring  pain  upon  others,  and  he  must 
share  his  pleasures  wdth  them  in  order  to  make 
them  happy  in  the  same  way  and  for  the  same 
reason  that  he  is  happy. 

The  First  Requirement  in  Ethical  Training. — 
In  the  ethical  training  of  the  normal  child  he 
must  first  be  led  to  appreciate  that  others  have 
feelings  like  his  own.  For  illustration — a  two- 
year-old  child  may  strike  his  mother  in  the  face 
when  he  does  not  secure  what  he  wishes.  If  he  is 
an  untaught  child  he  will  not  appreciate  that  he 
has  caused  his  mother  any  pain.  If  she  should 
cry  when  he  strikes  her  he  might  be  softened 
a  little,  but  he  would  not  be  deterred  from  strik- 
ing her  again  when  he  could  not  secure  what  he 
wished.  But  he  would  have  an  awakening  if 
the  mother  should  do  to  him  just  what  he  did  to 
her,  and  say  to  him,  *^  That's  the  way  mamma 
feels  when  you  strike  her?  Do  you  like  to  have 
mamma  strike  you!  Then  you  must  not  strike 
mamma  because  it  hurts'';  and  if  this  experi- 
ence should  be  repeated  a  number  of  times  the 
child  would  catch  the  idea  that  striking  always 


80  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

hurts  because  it  hurts  him,  and  he  would  gradu- 
ally learn  to  restrain  himself  whenever  he  was 
tempted  to  strike  his  mother.  He  learns  this 
lesson  when  he  touches  a  hot  stove  a  number  of 
times.  He  grows  cautious  when  he  falls  down 
stairs  several  times,  and  so  on.  Every  day,  if 
he  is  a  normal  child,  he  makes  progress  in  re- 
straining actions  which  will  cause  pain,  pro- 
vided he  sees  that  they  really  do  cause  pain. 

In  time  he  will  restrain  himself  from  striking 
his  mother  even  if  she  does  not  retaliate,  because 
the  pain  he  causes  her,  which  is  reflected  in  her 
countenance,  will  cause  him  similar  pain.  A  six- 
months-old  child  is  utterly  unconscious  of  ex- 
pressions of  pain  in  the  people  around  him,  but 
a  five-year-old  child  may  be  quite  sensitive.  He 
suffers  much  as  he  sees  others  suffering,  and 
this  plays  a  part  in  preventing  him  from  causing 
others  pain. 

There  are  ways  in  which  the  mother  could 
restrain  the  child  from  slapping  mthout  re- 
taliating in  kind.  She  could  go  away  from  him 
and  leave  him  alone,  for  instance.  If  the  mother 
would,  without  variation,  leave  the  babe  when- 
ever he  slaps  her  and  not  return  to  him  no 
matter  how  strong  an  appeal  he  makes,  she 
could  establish  in  his  mind  a  connection  between 
her  distress  and  his  slapping  and  the  conse- 
quence to  him.  In  due  time  he  would  bring  the 
act  of  slapping  under  control.     Again,  suppose 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  81 

an  eighteen-montlis-old  child  is  taken  to  the 
table  and  he  grabs  for  sugar.  It  is  entirely 
normal  for  him  to  do  this.  He  has  no  con- 
ception whatever  that  there  is  any  reason  why  he 
should  refrain  from  securing  sugar  any  way  he 
can  whenever  he  wants  it;  but  if  his  hand  were 
slapped  every  time  he  grabbed  he  would  make 
the  connection  in  time  between  grabbing  and 
painful  experience,  and  he  would  restrain  him- 
self, provided  there  was  never  any  omission  in 
the  penalty  for  grabbing.  If  there  should  be 
variation  so  that  some  days  he  would  be  slapped 
and  others  not,  he  would  take  his  chances  and 
he  would  probably  never  learn  definitely  to  re- 
strain the  act.  One  sees  adults  who  have  not 
learned  to  restrain  wrong  actions  because  in 
their  early  years  they  did  not  suffer  penalties 
invariably  for  these  actions. 

Instead  of  slapping  the  child's  hand  the 
mother  could  impress  upon  him  by  other  more 
effective  means  that  grabbing  is  not  to  be  toler- 
ated. When  he  grabs  she  might  not  give  him 
his  food,  or  she  might  push  him  away  or  take  him 
away  from  the  table.  In  time  he  would  connect 
grabbing  with  the  class  of  actions  that  must  not 
be  performed  because  they  are  selfish  or  *^  pig- 
gish. ' '  At  eighteen  months  he  cannot  see  that  if 
every  one  at  the  table  grabbed  for  food  it  would 
be  bad  for  all,  but  he  can  be  made  to  appreciate 
this  at  the  age  of  ten  and  very  much  more  fully 


82  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

at  the  age  of  twenty.  His  ethical  growth,  in  re- 
spect to  matters  of  this  sort,  requires  practi- 
cally the  whole  period  of  development  to  com- 
plete. 

Ethical  Lessons  Must  Be  Concrete  cmd  Con- 
sistent.—  The  child's  ethical  lessons  must  be 
very  concrete  and  very  specific.  Also,  they  must 
be  absolutely  uniform  and  unvarying.  The  chief 
difficulty  in  the  ethical  training  of  children  in 
most  homes  is  that  they  are  treated  one  way  to- 
day and  another  way  tomorrow.  At  one  time 
they  are  censured  or  even  punished  for  an  act 
that  is  overlooked  at  another  time.  Such  train- 
ing as  this  is  sure  to  lead  to  ethical  chaos.  It 
would  be  better  for  the  child's  ultimate  ethical 
life  that  he  should  be  indulged  in  his  selfishness 
and  domineering  ways  rather  than  that  he 
should  be  restrained  one  day  and  indulged  the 
next.  Whenever  the  parent  sets  out  to  give  the 
child  a  lesson  in  restraint  of  an  action  he  must 
repeat  that  lesson  until  it  is  fully  learned.  He 
must  never  let  a  slump  occur  in  the  observance 
of  the  lesson. 

One  reason  many  parents  are  unable  to  carry 
the  lessons  through  to  completion  is  that  they 
make  so  many  demands  and  rules  that  they  can- 
not possibly  have  them  all  observed  regularly 
and  unvaryingly.  It  would  be  better  for  a  child 
to  learn  one  lesson  until  it  is  fixed  than  to  have 
fifty  lessons  running  at  the  same  time  and  not 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  83 

have  any  of  them  made  permanent.  One  con- 
stantly meets  adults  who  show  the  results  of  a 
method  of  training  in  which  it  was  never  made 
clear  to  them  that  when  an  act  was  forbidden 
it  must  not  be  performed  under  any  conditions. 
Also,  when  a  command  was  given  it  must  be 
observed  at  any  cost.  The  lawless  individuals 
one  sees  in  daily  life  are  the  product  of  a 
vascillating  method  of  ethical  training;  and  they 
are  neither  happy  themselves  nor  do  they  con- 
tribute to  the  happiness  of  others,  simply  be- 
cause they  have  not  acquired  the  habit  of  con- 
forming to  reasonable  rules  and  regulations. 
Such  persons  have  no  stability  of  character,  be- 
cause they  do  not  know  for  sure  what  they 
can  do  and  what  they  cannot  do  in  their  rela- 
tions with  their  associates. 

Regularity  in  Training. —  Parents  frequently 
complain  of  their  inability  to  train  their  chil- 
dren to  conform  to  the  necessary  rules  of  the 
household.  They  say  that  their  children  do  not 
come  to  meals  on  time,  that  they  are  often  late 
at  school,  and  so  on.  We  parents  are  often  re- 
sponsible for  these  irregularities  in  our  chil- 
dren's behavior.  Here  is  a  case  to  illustrate  the 
principle:  There  are  three  boys  in  a  family  and 
they  all  attend  a  school  which  opens  at  8:30 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  boys  must  go  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  to  reach  the  school. 
They  ought  to  be  out  of  bed  at  6 :30  in  order  that 


84  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

they  may  not  be  tardy  at  school.  The  rule  is 
that  they  must  be  up  at  this  hour,  but  all  sorts 
of  happenings  are  allowed  to  interfere  with  the 
rule.  To-night,  say,  there  may  be  a  visitor  at 
the  home  and  he  keeps  the  boys  up  beyond  their 
usual  bedtime.  Then  tomorrow  morning  they 
will  not  want  to  get  up  when  called,  and  the 
mother  will  let  them  sleep  a  little  later  **  be- 
cause boys  must  have  their  full  amount  of  sleep 
anyway.''  Every  Friday  night  they  go  to  a 
party  of  some  kind,  and  while  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  household  are  up  at  the  usual  time 
on  Saturday  morning  the  mother  dislikes  to 
'^drag  the  boys  out,''  and  so  they  stick  to  their 
beds  for  an  hour  or  more  beyond  the  schedule 
time.  They  are  always  late  in  rising  on  Sunday 
morning,  so  late  that  they  are  frequently  tardy 
at  church.  It  is  just  as  hard,  the  mother  says, 
to  get  them  up  at  half-past  eight  on  Sunday 
as  at  half -past  six  on  Monday.  No  matter  when 
the  invitation  comes  to  get  up,  whether  late  or 
early,  they  decline  it  and  resist  exhortation  so 
long  as  they  think  it  is  wise  to  do  so. 

In  military  schools  the  reveille  somids  at  6 
o'clock.  Ten  minutes  after  that  time  eveiy  boy 
must  be  properly  dressed  and  lined  up  ready 
for  military  drill,  or  for  physical  exercise,  or  for 
a  cold  spray.  There  never  is  any  question  about 
whether  or  not  they  may  sleep  longer.  Boys 
under  such  discipline  find  it  much  easier  to  get 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  85 

up  on  time  than  when  they  must  always  debate 
the  question  as  to  when  it  is  necessarj^  that  they 
should  leave  their  beds.  ^Hien  an  act  must  be 
performed  and  there  can  be  no  exceptions  or 
excuses  made,  it  can  be  done  comparatively 
easily.  But  when  there  is  indecision  and  doubt, 
there  is  always  a  mental  struggle  which  in- 
creases the  discomfort  of  performing  any 
action.  Really,  most  of  the  distress  connected 
with  such  matters  as  rising  in  the  morning, 
being  at  meals  on  time,  being  prompt  at  school, 
and  so  on,  is  the  result  of  mental  conflict  due  to 
the  lack  of  certainty  as  to  whether  these  things 
have  to  be  done  or  whether  some  liberty  can 
be  taken  with  them. 

II 

The  Treatment  of  Backward  Children. —  Quite 
frequently  parents  who  have  the  problem  of 
training  backward  children  are  in  doubt  as  to 
whether  it  is  right  to  require  such  children  to 
observe  the  rules  and  reg-ulations  which  are  ob- 
served by  normal  children.  Usually  parents  say, 
in  substance:  *^We  have  a  child  who  is  not 
developing  as  rapidly  as  he  should  do.  He  does 
not  learn  readily  to  control  his  appetite  or  his 
temper.  We  feel  that  we  ought  not  to  punish 
him  for  his  shortcomings  because  he  does  not 
have  understanding  as  other  children  do.  It 
does  not  seem  right  to  penalize  a  child  who  is 


86  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

backward  when  be  does  not  restrain  himself  at 
the  table,  or  leave  things  that  do  not  belong  to 
him  alone,  or  control  his  temper  when  he  does 
not  get  what  he  wishes/^ 

The  view  generally  taken  by  those  who  are 
lenient  with  a  backward  child  is  that  he  cannot 
learn  to  control  his  impulses.  It  is  tme  that 
such  a  child  does  not  acquire  self-restraint  as 
rapidly  or  as  fully  as  do  normal  children.  This 
is  one  reason  why  he  is  backward.  The 
instinct-3  of  all  young  children  are  stronger  than 
their  sense  of  what  is  right  and  proper  in  their 
relations  with  others;  but  as  normal  children 
develop  they  rapidly  gain  control  of  their 
instincts,  while  backward  children  gain  control 
of  them  more  slowly. 

It  has  been  shown  that  it  is  possible  to  gain 
control  even  of  reflex  action.  The  secretion  of 
saliva  and  gastric  juice  can  be  controlled  in 
some  measure  in  a  creature  as  low  as  a  dog. 
Every  time  the  dog  is  fed  for  several  weeks  a 
bell  is  rung.  Then  the  bell  is  rung  without 
feeding  him,  and  saliva  and  gastric  juice  will  be 
secreted  just  as  when  he  was  fed.  Through 
association  with  feeding  the  ringing  of  the  bell 
has  acquired  the  power  to  produce  responses 
which  originally  were  produced  only  by  the 
food. 

Of  course,  everyone  knows  that  a  dog  can  be 
taught  so  he  will  control  some  of  his  impulses, 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  87 

such  as  barking,  stealing  food  from  the  table, 
chasing  the  cat,  and  the  like.  Horses  also  can 
be  taught  self-restraint  to  some  extent.  Even 
an  imbecile  is  higher  in  the  scale  of  mental  and 
nervous  development  than  a  dog  or  a  horse  and 
he  can  acquire  self-restraint  in  a  higher  degree 
than  they  can.  This  means  that  backward  and 
even  feeble-minded  children  can  be  trained  to 
control  their  angry  passions,  to  conform  to 
reasonable  rules  and  regulations  governing  their 
actions  at  table,  and  the  like.  A  backward  child 
requires  a  larger  number  of  repetitions  of  a 
penalty  in  order  to  learn  to  control  an  impulse 
than  does  a  normal  child;  but  nevertheless  he 
can  make  the  connection  between  penalty  and 
misdeed.  It  is  of  supreme  importance  that  he 
should  do  this  early  for  his  own  welfare  and  for 
the  welfare  of  all  with  whom  he  has  relations. 
In  the  development  of  a  normal  child  new 
interests  constantly  appear,  and  these  operate 
to  absorb  the  child's  attention  and  energies  so 
that  the  original  impulses  become  subdued  for 
lack  of  support.  A  boy  in  the  teens  does  not 
run  or  yell  as  much  as  he  did  when  he  was  seven 
or  eight  years  of  age,  because  new  interests  have 
developed  which  claim  his  attention  and  use  his 
energy  and  he  has  no  desire  to  run  and  yell  as 
he  formerly  did.  But  in  backward  or  feeble- 
minded children  new  interests  do  not  develop 
as  rapidly  and  do  not  become  as  strong  as  they 


88  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

do  in  normal  children.  This  is  one  reason  why 
backward  children  require  the  use  of  more  force 
in  their  training  than  do  normal  children.  The 
typical  child  might  grow  np  into  well-controlled 
adulthood  without  any  special  training  in  self- 
restraint;  imitation  of  others,  the  development 
of  new  interests,  lessons  gained  from  reading 
and  so  on  would  act  as  subduing  and  restraining 
influences  upon  his  impulsive  conduct.  But  this 
is  not  the  case  with  a  backward  child.  He  tends 
to  live  more  on  the  plane  of  his  impulses,  so  that 
what  he  sees  others  do,  what  he  reads,  and  so 
on,  all  of  which  ought  to  restrain  his  impulses, 
does  not  have  much  effect  upon  him  as  com- 
pared with  the  normal  child.  For  this  reason  he 
must  have  a  stronger  hand  over  him  than  is 
necessary  in  the  training  of  a  normal  child. 
Sentimentality  in  dealing  with  him  can  result 
only  in  disadvantage  to  himself  and  to  those 
who  must  live  with  him.  Because  he  is  back- 
ward is  the  very  reason  why  he  must  be  taught 
that  definite  penalties  are  connected  with  spe- 
cific acts  of  misbehavior,  and  when  he  learns 
this  lesson  he  will  conduct  himself  so  as  to  avoid 
pains  and  penalties. 

Ill 

The  Treatment  of  Anger. —  All  children  be- 
come angry  easily  as  compared  with  adults,  but 
this  is  particularly  true  of  backward  children. 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  89 

The  following  concrete  case  will  illustrate  the 
principle : 

''My  daughter  has  adopted  a  boy,  who  is  now 
seven  years  of  age.  She  adopted  him  when  he 
was  a  baby.  He  has  always  lost  his  temper 
easily,  and  my  daughter  has  lost  hers  just  as 
easily.  When  he  becomes  angry  and  cries  lustily 
or  throws  himself  on  the  floor,  she  whips  him, 
but  this  only  seems  to  make  him  worse.  She 
will  often  tie  a  handkerchief  around  his  mouth 
when  he  is  yelling,  but  this  angers  him  all  the 
more.  Sometimes  the  nerves  are  so  swollen  in 
his  neck  and  head  when  he  is  crying  I  am  afraid 
some  very  serious  thing  will  happen  to  him.  He 
does  not  seem  to  be  getting  any  better,  but  my 
daughter  thinks  the  best  way  to  cure  him  is  to 
whip  him  harder.     Will  he  outgrow  thisf 

One  often  sees  a  child  who  is  entirely  over- 
come with  anger.  He  will  throw  himself  on  the 
floor  and  be  utterly  unconscious  of  what  is  hap- 
pening to  him,  or  probably  of  what  he  himself  is 
doing.  The  more  that  is  said  to  him  when  he 
is  in  such  a  condition,  the  more  violent  he 
becomes.  He  is,  for  all  practical  purposes, 
insane;  that  is  to  say,  he  has  lost  the  power  of 
control.  When  anger  becomes  established  in 
this  way  in  the  organism,  it  dominates  every- 
thing— heart,  lungs,  every  vital  process.  The 
more  a  child  is  stimulated  under  such  a  condi- 
tion, whether  he  be  scolded,  or  threatened,   or 


90  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

whipped,  or  pleaded  with,  the  more  completely 
the  anger  will  get  control  of  him.  One  cannot 
reason  with  him  because  reason  is  dethroned 
for  the  time  being.  He  is  even  unconscious  of 
pain,  so  completely  does  the  emotion  of  anger 
dominate  his  feelings. 

It  is  absurd  to  whip  a  child  who  is  dominated 
by  anger.  It  is  just  as  bad  to  tie  a  handker- 
chief around  his  mouth.  The  best  thing  t-o  do  is 
to  let  him  alone,  and  let  his  passion  wear  itself 
out.  If  he  could  be  taken  before  the  anger  gains 
the  upper  hand,  he  might  be  controlled.  A 
parent  who  can  tell  when  her  child  is  likely  to 
get  into  a  tantrum  can  sometimes  stop  it  by 
dashing  cold  water  in  his  face,  or  by  suddenly 
taking  him  in  her  arms  and  holding  him 
securely,  without  talking  to  him.  This  latter 
plan  will  work  in  some  cases,  and  in  other  cases 
it  will  simply  be  the  means  of  hastening  the 
tempest.  Ordinarily  the  best  way  to  treat  an 
abnormal  conditions  like  this  is  to  let  it  alone. 

What  the  parent  should  do  is  to  study  the 
things  which  will  arouse  the  child's  anger  and 
then  avoid  these  things.  It  is  the  height  of  folly 
for  a  parent  to  excite  anger  in  a  child,  and  then 
tiy  to  control  it  by  punishment.  It  is  worse 
than  folly;  it  is  binital,  and  is  likely  to  ruin  the 
child. 

Nipping  a  Tantrwn  vn  the  Bud. —  A  certain 
physician  is  the  father  of  two  boys,  aged  three 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  91 

and  five.  He  is  an  unusually  gentle  and  clever 
man  and  he  has  a  good  time  with  his  boys.  He 
is  their  best  playmate,  and  they  have  rollicking 
games  together.  But,  like  all  boys  of  this  age, 
they  occasionally  have  to  be  disciplined.  When 
one  of  them  has  offended  in  any  way,  the  father 
taps  him  on  the  hand  and  tells  him  to  leave  the 
table  or  the  room  in  which  he  is  playing  and  to 
wait  until  he  comes  to  talk  with  him. 

Recently  the  elder  boy  grabbed  some  lumps  of 
sugar  at  the  dinner  table.  This  was  a  forbidden 
act.  The  father  tapped  him  on  his  hand  and 
told  him  to  go  away.  The  boy  began  to  howl. 
He  started  off,  but  threw  himself  on  all  fours 
and  yelled  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  The  father 
directed  one  vigorous  slap  on  the  most  conspicu- 
ous part  of  the  boy's  anatomy.  Instantly  he 
jumped  to  his  feet,  stopped  his  yelling,  actually 
smiled  back  at  his  father,  and  ran  off  to  await 
the  father's  coming. 

When  the  father  went  to  see  him  he  was  in  a 
compliant  mood  and  eager  to  make  amends.  He 
came  back  in  a  good  spirit  and  all  went  well  for 
the  rest  of  the  meal  and  has  gone  well  for  the 
succeeding  meals  up  to  the  time  when  this  story 
is  being  written. 

The  physician  in  discussing  the  matter  said: 
**0n  several  occasions  previously  Jack  got  into 
a  fit  of  angry,  rebellious  crying  when  he  had  to 
be  punished,  and  he  kept  up  howling  until  he  wore 


92  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

out  everybody  within  reach  of  his  voice.  He 
would  almost  get  into  hysterics.  That  slap  was 
the  first  corporal  punishment  I  ever  used  on  the 
boy,  but  it  was  the  most  salutary  thing  he  has 
received.  It  was  given  right  at  the  critical 
moment.  If  the  fit  had  gone  any  farther,  it 
would  have  taken  entire  possession  of  him.'' 

Of  course,  a  child  who  is  slapped  or  dowsed 
with  cold  water  or  chastised  in  any  other  way 
frequently  will  become  callous  to  the  punish- 
ment, and  it  will  not  divert  his  attention  when 
a  tantrum  is  coming  on.  A  parent  who  is 
always  doing  something  to  his  children  often 
complains  because  they  ignore  what  he  says  or 
his  methods.  It  will  work  out  this  way  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten. 


IV 


Avoid  the  Direct  Command. —  Usually  a  crisis 
in  dealing  with  children  can  be  avoided  by 
avoiding  a  direct  command.  A  concrete  instance 
will  illustrate  an  effective  method  of  securing 
responses  from  children  without  arousing  anger. 
There  are  two  boys,  aged  five  and  seven,  in  a 
certain  household.  One  evening  recently,  when 
bed  time  had  arrived,  the  father  said  to  the 
boys:  ^^You  must  go  to  bed  now."  Both  boys 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  play  a  little  longer.  The 
father   waited   ten   minutes    and   then   he    said: 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  93 

**Now,  boys,  you  have  had  quite  a  good  deal  of 
play.  You  must  go  to  bed/'  Again  tbey 
begged  for  a  few  minutes  grace,  saying  that 
they  were  not  quite  through  with  their  play ;  and 
they  really  were  not  through  with  it.  The  father 
urged,  but  finally  relented  and  allowed  them  a 
few  minutes  longer  for  play.  But  when  the  time 
was  up  the  boys  were  still  engrossed  with  their 
play  and  were  not  ready  to  go  to  bed.  The 
father  grew  impatient  and  threatened  the  boys 
with  punishment  if  they  did  not  stop  their  play 
at  once  and  go  up  stairs.  But  still  they  pleaded 
for  a  few  minutes  more  to  complete  their  play. 
It  was  evident  they  would  either  have  to  be 
whipped  and  sent  up  stairs  or  they  would  have 
to  be  dragged  up  by  the  father.  Just  then  the 
mother  appeared  on  the  scene.  She  sensed  the 
situation  immediately  and  she  said  to  the  boys: 
**I  have  a  new  harness  for  each  of  my  ponies. 
I  want  to  hitch  them  up  to  my  carriage  and  show 
the  neighbors  what  a  fine  turn-out  I  have.'* 
Both  boys  stopped  their  play  and  were  all  atten- 
tion and  ready  for  the  drive. 

The  mother  took  a  simple  measuring  tape, 
put  it  around  the  boys'  necks  and  said,  ^^Here 
is  my  fine  new  harness.''  She  took  a  broom  and 
put  between  them  and  said,  ^'Here's  the  brand 
new  carriage."  She  took  a  yard  measure  in  her 
hand  and  said,  '^Here  is  my  new  whip  that  I 
use  to  make  my  ponies  behave."    She  then  gave 


94  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

each  one  a  smart  tap  on  his  bare  leg  and  the 
team  started  off.  They  went  around  through 
the  rooms  three  or  four  times.  "All  along  the 
streets  the  ^^  neighbors '*  were  gazing  at  the  new 
turn  out.  Every  chair  was  a  house.  Going 
through  the  doors  was  turning  into  a  new  street. 
Finally  they  came  to  the  boulevard,  which  was 
the  stairs,  and  up  the  ponies  went  with  great 
spirit,  and  on  they  sped  to  the  bedroom,  which 
was  their  stable.  When  they  got  in  they  were 
unharnessed  and  very  willingly  they  permitted 
their  clothes  to  be  taken  off,  because  horses  must 
have  their  harness  removed  after  the  day's 
driving.  Also  fine  ponies  have  to  be  rubbed 
down,  face  and  hands  and  even  body  being  thor- 
oughly gone  over.  Then  they  had  to  have  a 
drink  after  their  long  drive  because  they  were 
thirsty,  and  finally  they  were  ready  for  their 
night  ^s  rest. 

Throughout  this  game  the  boys  were  greatly 
interested  and  did  not  offer  the  slightest  objec- 
tion to  anything  mother  suggested;  and  they 
finally  jumped  into  bed  in  a  cheerful  frame  of 
mind.  This  little  drama  was  enacted  many 
nights  in  succession,  and  the  boys  came  to  look 
forward  to  being  hitched  up  and  driven  around 
the  city,  and  finally  rubbed  down  and  put  into 
their  stalls. 

Another  mother  followed  the  same  principle 
in  inducing  her  children  to  go  to  bed,  but  she 


/ 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  95 

had  them  personify  birds  instead  of  horses. 
They  would  fly  around  through  the  rooms 
calling  in  bird  notes  to  one  another,  and  finally 
they  would  fly  to  the  topmost  branches  of  the 
trees  for  the  night  so  that  night  prowlers — cats 
especially — could  not  get  them.  The  children 
were  always  ready  to  fly  up  the  stairs  when  the 
mother  would  say,  ^^Now,  we  must  get  out  of 
reach  of  the  cats.'' 

Make  Use  of  the  Dramatic  Instmct. —  A  child 
will  readily  play  the  part  of  any  bird  or  animal ; 
and  he  will  endure  almost  any  hardship  in  order 
to  carry  through  a  game.  He  will  even  play 
the  role  of  a  pig  and  be  put  in  his  pen  for  the 
night.  Most  pleasantly  of  all  he  will  transform 
himself  into  an  Indian  and  perform  any  task 
bravely  as  an  Indian  always  does.  He  can  even 
be  influenced  in  regard  to  his  dietetic  habits  by 
assuming  a  role.  A  concrete  instance  will  illus- 
trate how  far  his  dramatic  interest  will  carry 
him. 

There  were  two  children,  aged  four  and  six, 
in  a  certain  home.  Across  the  street  was  a 
family  with  two  children,  and  there  was  con- 
siderable rivalry  between  the  two  families.  The 
children  in  one  family  would  brag  about  what 
they  could  do  to  the  children  in  the  other 
family.  The  children  in  the  first  home  referred 
to  were  finicky  about  their  food.  They  would 
only  eat   sweet  foods;  particularly   they  would 


96  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

not  eat  cereals.  Finally,  one  morning  when  the 
boys  pushed  away  their  cereal  the  mother  said: 
''Did  I  tell  you  I  put  Jimmie  in  one  of  those 
dishes  and  Jack  in  the  other!  If  yon  want  to 
you  can  eat  'em  up."  Instantly  both  boys 
pulled  their  dishes  over  and  eagerly  ate  every 
morsel  of  the  cereal.  For  a  number  of  days 
thereafter  the  mother  used  this  device.  She 
employed  it  successfully  indeed  until  the  boys 
acquired  a  taste  for  cereal  food.  Some  mothers 
will  think  such  a  device  as  this  is  of  doubtful 
value;  but  it  illustrates  what  can  be  done  by 
appealing  to  a  child's  dramatic  interest. 

Make  Use  of  Emulation. —  Here  is  another 
illustration.  A  boy  of  five  would  not  eat  crusts 
of  bread  or  any  hard  food.  In  fact  he  would 
push  any  food  away  from  him  which  was  not 
soft  and  mushy.  His  mother  awakened  his  in- 
terest in  hard  bread  by  saying  to  him:  *'Do 
you  know  how  Billy  (one  of  his  playmates  and 
rivals)  is  getting  to  be  so  strong?  In  a  few 
days  he  will  be  able  to  throw  you  and  run 
faster  than  you.  He  asks  his  mother  to  give 
him  crusts  of  bread  and  hard  flakes  so  that  he 
can  get  to  be  strong.  He  wants  to  be  stronger 
than  any  boy  on  this  street.  He  wants  to  have 
better  wind,  too,  so  that  he  can  outrun  any  boy 
on  the  street.  He  knows  that  if  he  will  eat 
crusts  and  the  hard  flakes  he  will  have  good 
wind  and  his  legs  and  arms  will  be  strong. '^ 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  97 

Xo  one  had  to  say  very  much  thereafter  to  that 
boy  about  eating  the  crusts  of  his  bread  and 
the  hard  cereal  food.  "ViHienever  he  showed  a 
tendency  to  avoid  the  hard  foods  his  mother 
would  only  have  to  remark:  ^'I  wonder  whether 
Billy  is  going  to  be  stronger  than  any  other  boy 
on  the  street.  He  looks  to  me  as  though  he 
would  be  because  he  eats  hard  foods  w^hich  will 
make  his  muscles  strong  and  give  him  good 
wind.  ^ ' 

Resourceful  parents  can  take  advantage  of' 
this  interest  to  induce  their  children  to  perform 
willingly  and  even  cheerfully  distasteful  actions 
such  as  taking  castor  oil,  or  washing  behind  the 
ears,  or  having  their  hair  cut,  and  the  like.  So 
far  as  possible  the  direct  command  should  be 
avoided  when  it  arouses  a  rebellious  attitude. 
In  due  course  children  will  perform  actions  in 
response  to  commands  because  they  respect  the 
authority  of  the  parent  and  the  teacher;  and 
besides,  they  will  appreciate  the  necessity  of 
performing  actions  relating  to  the  care  of  their 
health,  or  observance  of  the  rules  of  the  house- 
hold, or  helping  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  the 
home  and  so  on.  But  in  the  earliest  years 
they  cannot  understand  the  reason  for  many  of 
the  things  that  are  required  of  them,  and  the 
best  plan  to  follow  with  them  is  to  have  these 
things  done  with  the  least  resistance  and  irrita- 
tion. 


98        •  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

V 

One  Cause  of  ''Obstinacy/' — Much  of  the 
apparent  obstinacy  of  children  is  due  to  their 
misunderstanding  of  commands.  For  instance: 
A  father  brought  a  friend  home  one  evening. 
When  the  four-year-old  boy  in  the  house  came 
to  greet  the  friend  the  father  said,  *^Show  Mr. 
B.  that  you  can  shake  hands  with  your  right 
hand.^'  The  father  extended  his  own  right  hand 
as  a  suggestion  to  the  boy,  whereupon  the  boy 
gave  his  left  hand  to  the  friend.  The  father 
said,  **0h,  no,  I  said  the  7%ght  hand — just  as  I 
do,  you  see,''  and  he  extended  his  right  hand 
to  the  boy  again,  but  the  boy  extended  his  left 
hand  as  before.  The  father  was  impatient  and 
after  the  friend  had  gone  he  gave  the  boy  a 
little  lecture,  telling  him  he  should  do  as  he  was 
told  to  do.  The  father  blamed  him  because  he 
was  not  obedient. 

To  an  adult  it  seems  impossible  that  a  four- 
year-old  boy  should  not  be  able  to  distinguish 
his  right  from  his  left  hand,  and  when  such  a 
boy  is  asked  to  give  his  right  hand  and  extends 
his  left  instead,  it  appears  that  he  is  either  in- 
different or  disobedient.  But  as  a  matter  of 
fact  it  is  a  slow  process  for  a  child  to  associate 
definitely  the  words  ** right  hand''  with  the 
proper  hand  so  that  he  can  always  make  the  right 
connection    at    once.      Any   psychologist    under- 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  99 

stands  the  reason  why  it  requires  a  long  period 
with  a  great  deal  of  experience  for  a  child  to 
learn  to  distinguish  between  members  on  the 
right  half  of  the  body  and  those  on  the  left. 
The  child  does  not  think  of  his  body  in  halves 
or  sides.  The  right  eye  is  not  different  from 
the  left  eye,  the  right  leg  from  the  left  leg. 
When  one  says  ^* right  ear''  to  a  young  child, 
either  ear  is  meant  so  far  as  he  is  concerned. 
There  really  is  no  reason  why  he  should  dis- 
tinguish right  from  left  in  the  early  years,  since 
he  has  no  vital  experiences  which  teach  him  that 
there  is  any  essential  difference. 

In  due  time  a  child  will  discover  that  he  uses 
one  side  of  the  body  more  than  the  other.  He 
writes,  draws,  throws  stones,  whittles,  and  so 
on  with  his  right  hand  and  never  uses  his  left. 
If  the  parent  will  say  to  him:  ^^Show  me  your 
throwing  hand"  he  will  make  no  mistake.  If 
the  father  had  said  to  the  boy:  ^* Shake  hands 
with  Mr.  B.  with  your  throwing  hand,''  he  would 
have  been  able  to  execute  the  command  correctly. 

The  father  mentioned  above  not  only  failed 
to  take  account  of  his  boy's  difficulty  in  dis- 
criminating the  right  from  the  left  hand,  but  he 
deliberately  confused  him.  He  stood  before  him 
extending  his  own  right  hand.  He  should  have 
appreciated  that  the  boy  would  extend  the  hand 
on  the  side  of  the  body  nearest  to  the  father's 
right  hand.     The  boy  did  not  think  of  himself  as 


100  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

facing  his  father  and  so  he  should  extend  the 
opposite  hand  from  that  extended  by  the  father. 
This  is  a  rather  difficult  process  of  orientation, 
which  even  adults  cannot  always  perform.  One 
may  see  a  physical  culture  teacher  facing  a 
group  of  adults  and  setting  a  copy  in  cales- 
thenics  with  the  right  hand.  Most  of  the  adults 
will  imitate  with  the  left  hand.  Often  a  physical 
culture  teacher  scolds  his  pupils,  the  older  as 
well  as  the  younger  ones,  because  they  make 
such  mistakes,  when  a  little  reflection  would 
have  convinced  the  instructor  that  he  was  un- 
wittingly confusing  his  pupils.  A  capable 
physical  culture  teacher,  facing  his  pupils, 
always  uses  his  left  hand  when  he  desires  his 
pupils  to  use  the  right,  and  in  this  way  he 
avoids  confusing  them. 

A  parent  cannot  take  too  great  pains  to  see 
that  a  child  correctly  understands  every  com- 
mand given  him.  Ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred 
parents  will  have  constantly  to  resist  the  ten- 
dency to  assume  that  what  they  themselves  un- 
derstand will  be  intelligible  to  their  children. 
They  have  so  completely  forgotten  the  details 
of  their  own  learning  that  they  cannot  or  at 
least  they  do  not  take  the  point  of  view  of  the 
novice. 

Deferred  Commands.  —  Here  is  another 
method  of  giving  commands  which  is  the  cause 
of  much   trouble.     A   father   says   to   his    son: 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  101 

'^  Jack,  I  would  like  to  have  you  feed  Billy  (the 
horse)  at  half -past  five  because  I  in.uf^t:us^  him 
as  soon  as  I  get  home  from  the  office  at  supper, 
time.''  The  boy  runs  off,  assuring  tlis  'fathei 
that  he  will  not  forget.  What  are  the  chances 
that  he  will  remember  the  command? 

Suppose  the  boy  had  said  to  the  father  as 
the  latter  was  leaving  for  his  office:  ^^ Daddy,  I 
would  like  to  have  you  call  me  on  the  telephone 
at  half -past  five  and  remind  me  that  I  am  to 
take  my  medicine  at  that  time.''  What  are  the 
chances  that  the  father  would  remember!  They 
are  very  slight.  Some  readers  may  ask:  ^^Why 
should  the  father  carry  that  matter  in  his  mind 
all  the  afternoon  when  he  had  so  many  more 
important  things  to  look  after!  It  would  be 
unfair  to  expect  him  to  remember  it  and  he 
should  not  have  been  asked  to  do  so."  All  of 
which  is  quite  true  and  reasonable. 

But  the  situation  with  respect  to  Jack  is  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  it  would  have  been  with  the 
father  if  he  had  been  asked  to  remember  Jack's 
request.  Jack's  afternoons  are  filled  with  very 
important  activities,  so  far  as  he  is  concerned. 
He  cannot  keep  thinking  about  feeding  the  horse 
and  watching  the  clock  so  that  the  hour  of  five- 
thirty  will  not  pass  without  his  executing  the 
father's  command.  The  matter  is  dislodged 
from  the  boy's  thoughts  as  soon  as  he  leaves 
his   house   for   school.     He   falls   in   with   com- 


102  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

panions  anci  they  have  most  interesting  experi- 
ences to  tell  him  and  great  plans  for  after-school 
activities  to  lay  before  him.  When  he  reaches 
school  he  has  an  important  task  to  perform  which 
absorbs  his  attention.  When  school  closes  at 
four  there  are  exciting  entei*prises  to  be  carried 
through.  All  of  these  matters  claim  the  boy's 
full  attention,  and  no  room  is  left  for  keeping 
in  mind  the  command  given  him  when  he  left 
the  house  at  noon.  Of  course,  he  forgets  to 
perform  the  task.  It  could  have  been  predicted 
that  he  would  forget  it.  The  command  should 
not  have  been  given  in  the  way  in  which  it  was 
given. 

Taking  the  Child's  Point  of  View. —  We 
parents  bring  unending  trouble  upon  ourselves 
because  we  naively  assume  that  our  own  duties 
are  always  important  while  our  children's  activ- 
ities are  of  no  consequence.  But  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  a  boy  of  twelve  is  more  completely  absorbed 
in  his  undertakings  than  we  are  in  most  of  ours, 
no  matter  how  important  they  may  be.  If  one 
could  look  into  the  brain  of  a  twelve-year-old 
boy  while  he  is  playing  with  companions  or 
working  at  his  lessons  in  the  classroom  or  read- 
ing stories,  ^ay,  it  would  be  found  that  the  thing 
in  hand  was  monopolizing  his  consciousness  and 
excluding  everything  else;  but  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  one  could  look  into  the  brain  of  a  typical 
adult  whik    he  is  engaged  in  any  of  his  usual 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  103 

activities  it  would  be  found  that  there  would  be 
other  activities  on  the  outskirts  of  attention 
which  were  receiving  a  partial  or  marginal  hear- 
ing. This  means  that  the  typical  adult  may  not 
be  entirely  forgetful  of  activities  which  should 
be  performed,  even  though  they  are  not  vitally 
related  to  the  one  in  hand  or  to  his  chief  inter- 
ests. The  adult  can  carry  deferred  commands 
in  mind  better  than  the  child  can  simply  because 
he  has  a  more  fully  developed  brain  which  can 
hold  series  of  more  or  less  unrelated  activities 
and  ideas;  one  activity  or  idea  in  a  series  will 
be  dominant,  but  some  of  the  others  may  be  suf- 
ficiently potent  so  that  they  will  not  be  com- 
pletely eliminated  from  attention. 

How  should  the  parent  have  given  the  com- 
mand to  the  boy  so  that  at  half -past  ^ve  he  would 
have  thought  of  the  horse!  He  should  have 
associated  the  idea  of  feeding  the  horse  with 
some  activity  which  the  boy  would  be  perform- 
ing at  about  half-past  five;  or  he  should  have 
connected  it  with  some  happening  which  would 
attract  the  boy's  attention,  such  as  the  blow- 
ing of  the  whistles  in  the  city,  or  the  men  pass- 
ing from  their  work,  or  any  similar  event.  If 
feeding  the  horse  were  strongly  enough  tied  up 
with  any  of  these  events,  then  when  they  oc- 
curred they  would  automatically  remind  the  boy 
of  his  duty  and  he  would  perform  it. 

What  is  required  for  success  in  having  chil- 


104  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

dren  remember  deferred  commands  is  to  con- 
nect them  with  happenings  which  will  call  them 
into  mind  at  the  appropriate  time.  They  can  be 
kept  in  mind  by  some  children,  but  not  by  all, 
if  they  will  be  rewarded  when  they  do  not  for- 
get. But  even  rewards  and  punishments  fre- 
quently fail  to  cause  a  child  to  remember  to  per- 
form duties  at  some  distant  time  if  he  has  no 
reminder  when  the  time  to  perform  them 
arrives.  The  parent  and  the  teacher  should 
provide  such  reminders,  for  otherwise  most  of 
their  commands  designed  to  be  executed  in  the 
future  will  be  neglected.  Children  will  be  ac- 
cused of  carelessness  and  disobedience,  when  as 
a  matter  of  fact  they  may  not  be  guilty  of  either. 
One  is  indifferent  or  disobedient  only  when  he 
knows  an  act  should  be  performed,  but  he  delib- 
erately chooses  not  to  perform  it  either  because 
he  does  not  care  about  it  or  because  he  wishes 
to  show  his  opposition  to  authority. 

Nagging. —  We  parents  often  make  another 
mistake  in  regard  to  giving  deferred  commands. 
We  may  give  a  command  to  a  child  in  the  morn- 
ing to  be  performed  at  night,  but  we  suspect  he 
will  forget  it,  so  every  time  we  see  him  during 
the  day  we  say:  *^ Don't  forget  what  I  told  you.'' 
What  is  the  result  of  this  method  of  training? 
In  the  first  place  it  is  likely  to  be  irritating  to 
a  child  and  may  arouse  opposition  in  him;  but 
more  serious  still  he  is  apt  to  gain  the  impres- 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  105 

sion  that  when  a  command  is  given  it  will  in- 
cessantly be  repeated  and  he  does  not  need  to 
make  any  effort  to  remember  it  on  his  own 
account;  so  he  may  grow  into  the  habit  of  let- 
ting commands  come  in  one  ear  and  escape  out 
of  the  other.  One  can  see  children  who  have 
grown  utterly  indifferent  to  repeated  reminders 
of  duties  to  be  performed.  It  is  as  though  the 
mind  was  made  callous  by  the  wearing  effect  of 
constantly  repeated  commands. 

When  one  first  hears  Niagara  Falls  it  claims 
all  his  attention,  but  after  he  has  lived  within 
the  sound  of  it  for  a  year  he  grows  indifferent 
to  it  until  in  the  end  he  may  not  hear  it  at  all. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  sights  and  sounds  in  a 
city.  What  is  often  repeated  comes  to  be  largely 
ignored  as  a  rule.  This  should  be  a  warning  to 
any  parent;  he  should  avoid  treating  his  chil- 
dren so  that  they  ignore  his  command^  or  his 
exhortations  because  they  become  so  accustomed 
to  them.  The  rule  should  be:  Give  commands 
rarely  but  when  they  are  given  make  them  so 
explicit  and  clear  and  impressive  that  they  will 
stay  near  the  focus  of  consciousness,  as  the 
psychologist  says,  and  then  they  will  be  likely  to 
be  executed,  especially  if  they  be  connected  with 
automatic  reminders. 

Long-range  Commands, —  There  is  still  an- 
other method  of  issuing  commands  which  rarely 
if  ever  secures  erood  results.    It  is  illustrated  in 


106  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

the  following  instance:  A  father  writes  that  he 
has  difficulty  in  getting  either  of  his  two  boys 
to  do  anything  he  asks  them  to  do.  He  says  they 
are  not  **bad  boys/'  they  are  not  ^ ^ obstinate/ ' 
they  do  not  intend  to  *' resist  his  authority;'' 
they  simply  forget  his  commands.  He  then  goes 
into  some  detail  in  describing  concrete  instances 
of  their  indifference. 

It  is  plain  to  see  that  he  follows  the  usuax 
method  of  giving  commands  at  long  distance, 
as  it  were,  and  at  inappropriate  times.  He  will 
come  into  the  house  and  say  casually  to  one  of 
the  boys,  *^You  should  fill  the  wood  box  before 
you  go  to  school  this  noon."  The  boy  replies: 
*^A11  right;  I'll  do  it."  But  he  is  reading  an 
interesting  story.  He  keeps  at  the  story  until 
it  is  time  to  rush  off  to  school.  Then  the  father 
upbraids  him  at  night  because  he  forgot  his 
task. 

It  is  practically  certain  that  commands  given 
in  this  way  will  fail  to  be  obeyed  in  seven  or 
eight  out  of  ten  cases.  Why?  Because  they  do 
not  take  effect  in  the  consciousness  of  the  per- 
son who  is  commanded;  they  go  in  one  ear  and 
out  the  other  because  the  mind  is  fully  occu- 
pied, as  it  should  be,  with  what  he  is  doing  at 
the  moment.  The  father  mentioned  above  should 
have  got  the  boy's  complete  attention  and  held 
it  until  the  command  found  lodgment.  Then 
the  boy  would  have  filled  the  box. 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  107 

In  many  schools  and  homes  commands  are 
shot  out  into  space  constantly,  and  not  one-tenth 
of  them  land  any  place.  They  cannot  take  effect 
unless  the  attention  of  the  one  to  whom  they  are 
directed  is  secured  and  held  long  enough  for  the 
command  to  make  an  impression.  The  habit 
of  standing  aloof  and  telling  children  while  they 
are  engaged  in  reading  or  visiting  to  do  this 
and  do  that,  and  then  complaining  when  they 
forget  is  an  irritating  and  fruitless  method-  It 
very  rarely  secures  desired  results,  and  the 
chances  are  that  the  atmosphere  of  issuing  com- 
mands and  finding  fault  will  permeate  the  home 
and  the  school. 

When  Parents  Disagree. —  The  problems  of 
training  are  greatly  increased  when  the  parents 
do  not  agree  in  regard  to  the  method  of  pro- 
cedure. The  following  is  a  case  in  point:  A 
mother  in  Michigan  has  a  five-year-old  boy  who 
is  noisy  in  his  play.  He  likes  to  climb  on  the 
furniture  and  on  the  railing  around  the  porch 
of  the  house.  His  father  says  he  will  break  his 
neck  unless  he  is  repressed.  The  mother  wishes 
to  give  the  boy  considerable  freedom  to  in- 
dulge his  interests,  but  the  father  thinks  he 
should  be  dealt  with  strictly,  and  should  be  made 
to  keep  quiet  when  he  is  in  the  house.  The 
father  strikes  the  boy  when  he  is  noisy,  and  he 
insists  that  the  mother  should  abandon  her 
foolish  notions  about  allowing  the  boy  to  play 


108  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

freely  and  run  and  climb  and  yell  in  the  house. 

This  is  not  the  only  household  in  the  country 
in  which  the  father  and  the  mother  do  not  agree 
in  regard  to  the  training  of  the  children.  As  a 
rule,  the  father  in  such  homes  never  reads  any- 
thing relating  to  child  nature,  and  so  he  is 
densely  ignorant  of  all  that  has  been  accom- 
plished these  last  few  years  in  the  study  of 
child  life.  Such  a  man  is  usually  selfish  as  well 
as  ignorant,  and  so  he  demands  that  his  children 
keep  still  when  he  is  around  so  that  they  will 
not  annoy  him. 

What  is  a  mother  to  do  when  the  man  of  the 
house  is  ignorant  and  selfish  in  his  relations 
with  his  children.  First  of  all,  she  should  send 
the  children  to  a  kindergarten  or  a  Montessori 
school,  if  there  is  one  in  the  community,  at  as 
early  an  age  as  they  will  be  accepted,  even  as 
early  as  four.  They  will  be  better  off  in  a 
kindergarten  or  a  Montessori  school  than  they 
will  be  in  a  home  in  which  they  are  rigorously 
repressed  or  in  which  there  is  discord  between 
the  father  and  mother  in  respect  to  methods  of 
training.  When  the  children  come  from  school 
they  should  play  out-of-doors  if  the  weather  will 
permit.  For  at  least  half  the  year,  as  well  in 
the  northern  as  in  the  southern  part  of  the  coun- 
try, children  can  be  out-of-doors  practically  all 
the  time  they  are  not  in  school,  or  asleep,  or  eat- 
ing their  meals,  or  preparing  their  lessons.     It 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  100 

is  true  they  may  have  to  associate  with  rough 
playmates  sometimes;  but  it  would  be  better  to 
take  some  chances  with  their  playing  with  such 
companions  than  to  keep  them  in  the  house 
when  the  father  is  harsh  and  intolerant.  Not 
infrequently  men  dislike  to  have  children  around 
them  at  all;  in  such  cases  the  less  the  children 
see  of  their  fathers  the  better  off  they  will  be. 

Correcting  Faults  hy  Substitution. —  Most 
mothers  do  not  tell  or  read  stories  to  their  noisy 
children  as  much  as  they  should  do.  There  is 
scarcely  a  town  or  city  in  the  country  in  which 
there  is  not  a  public  library  or  a  loan  library. 
In  some  states  there  are  traveling  libraries,  and 
books  suitable  for  children  of  all  ages  can  be 
secured  regularly  even  in  rural  districts.  In  a 
home  in  which  there  is  an  irritable  father,  the 
mother  should  aim  to  have  a  book  of  stories 
always  at  hand.  If  the  children  are  likely  to  be 
unduly  noisy  after  supper  the  mother  should 
promise  them  that  she  will  read  to  them  if  they 
will  help  her  do  up  the  dishes.  They  will  usually 
be  glad  to  make  such  a  bargain.  Of  course, 
when  they  have  learned  to  read  easily,  all  the 
mother  will  need  to  do  will  be  to  provide  books 
for  them  and  they  will  entertain  themselves. 
Under  such  conditions  there  will  be  no  further 
trouble  about  their  being  noisy  in  the  house. 

Young  children  find  pleasure  in  using  brush 
and  paints.    A  mother  who  will  provide  paints, 


no  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

brush  and  paper  for  children  after  the  age  of 
four  or  five  will  avoid  many  an  unpleasant 
scene  in  a  house  in  which  there  are  persons  who 
are  easily  disturbed  by  children's  boisterous 
play.  A  mother  should  visit  the  kindergartener 
in  her  coromunity  and  learn  how  to  secure  mate- 
rials for  painting,  as  well  as  other  materials  to 
keep  her  children  occupied  during  their  free 
periods.  In  an  article  on  **  Kindergarten  Meth- 
ods in  the  Home''  in  the  Mother's  Magazine  for 
July,  1919,  numerous  suggestions  were  made 
relating  to  ways  and  means  of  providing  whole- 
some occupation  for  young  children  in  the  home. 
Of  course,  children  love  to  look  at  pictures. 
Every  public  library  in  America  should  have  a 
room-full  of  picture  books  for  children.  A 
mother  of  a  boy  who  is  apt  to  upset  the  house- 
hold after  supper  because  of  his  rough  play 
should  have  a  picture  book  ready  for  him  and  in 
this  way  she  can  keep  him  quiet  without  scold- 
ing him. 

VI 

Learning  to  Serve. —  In  the  ethical  training 
of  the  young  it  is  imperative  that  they  learn  to 
serve  as  well  as  to  be  served.  They  cannot  be 
taught  this  lesson  simply  by  commanding  them 
to  help  others;  they  must  be  led  to  feel  a  desire 
to  relieve  distress  in  others  and  to  provide  for 
their  comfort.     Often  they  can  receive  valuable 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  111 

training  by  having  pets  of  their  own  to  care  for, 
though  this  is  not  always  the  case  as  the  fol- 
lowing instance  illustrates: 

Helen  always  has  several  pets — ^birds,  kittens, 
a  dog,  a  pony.  The  family  are  in  good  circum- 
stances and  can  afford  everything  the  child  de- 
sires. There  are  two  older  children  who  also 
have  pets,  but  not  so  many  as  Helen.  There  are 
servants  in  the  family  and  Helen  has  turned 
over  the  care  of  her  pets  to  them.  She  rarely 
feeds  the  pets;  she  does  not  serve  them  in  any 
way  that  is  necessary  for  their  welfare.  She 
simply  uses  them  for  her  own  pleasure.  She 
will  decorate  her  kitten  and  play  with  it,  but 
she  will  not  prepare  its  food  or  attend  to  its 
bed;  she  requests  the  servants  to  look  after  such 
matters  for  her. 

Helen  may  gain  some  ethical  advantage  from 
her  pets,  but  she  would  receive  much  more  bene- 
fit if  she  would  attend  to  their  needs  as  well 
as  use  them  for  her  pleasure.  She  really  is 
not  sensitive  to  their  needs,  although  she  will 
protect  them  from  being  teased  by  her  brother, 
and  she  will  defend  them  against  harm  from 
anyone.  They  furnish  her  opportunities  for 
play,  and  they  undoubtedly  are  in  this  way  of 
value  in  her  intellectual  development.  But  she 
is  selfish  in  her  possession  of  them.  As  a  rule 
she  will  not  let  others  play  with  them  or  enjoy 
them.     She  maintains   that  they   are   her  very 


112  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

own  and  everyone  else  must  *4et  them  alone.'' 
So  her  pets  appear  to  make  her  more  rather  than 
less  selfish. 

There  is  the  danger  that  children  who  grow 
up  in  the  city  and  do  not  have  to  care  for  chil- 
dren or  animals  or  plants  will  not  develop 
thoughtfulness  for  the  welfare  of  others.  If 
there  were  no  living  things  that  we  felt  could 
suffer  from  our  neglect,  none  of  us  would  ac- 
quire self-restraint,  and  we  would  not  learn  to 
serve  others  as  we  would  be  served.  Every 
ethical  and  moral  principle  finds  its  justifica- 
tion in  the  fact  that  persons,  and  animals  also, 
have  needs  and  can  suffer  pain  and  so  they  have 
rights  that  must  be  respected.  Now,  take  a  child 
who  is  always  served  by  others  and  who  does 
not  feel  that  anyone  depends  on  his  service  or 
his  self-denial  and  it  will  be  difficult  for  him  to 
acquire  ethical  and  moral  ideas  and  ideals. 

Training  Character  in  the  Schoolroom. — 
Teachers  often  assign  work  in  the  schoolroom 
for  the  purpose  of  training  character.  It  is 
sometimes  said  that  a  child  who  has  to  solve 
mathematical  or  granunatical  problems  or  mas- 
ter a  spelling  lesson  will  learn  to  be  diligent,  to 
exert  himself,  and  to  conform  to  necessary  rules 
and  regulations.  There  is  undoubtedly  some 
ethical  value  in  such  work,  but  still  a  pupil 
always  realizes  that  if  he  does  not  perform  his 
task  no  one  will  really  suffer  thereby.    The  task 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  113 

is  a  more  or  less  arbitrary  one,  and  the  child 
appreciates  that  it  is  assigned  solely  for  his 
training,  and  he  is  willing  to  take  chances  on  his 
coming  out  all  right  in  maturity  without  per- 
forming the  task.  If  he  is  inaccurate,  negligent, 
forgetful,  careless,  greedy,  no  one  suffers  actual 
inconvenience  or  pain  so  far  as  he  can  see.  But 
if  he  exhibits  these  characteristics  when  he  has 
to  care  for  a  dog  or  a  cow  or  a  colt  or  a  bird  he 
discovers  very  readily  that  he  must  adopt  a  dif- 
ferent course  or  trouble  will  result.  His  rela- 
tion to  his  pony  or  kitten  or  puppy,  if  they  de- 
pend on  him  for  care  and  well  being,  is  not  an 
arbitrary  one.  If  he  does  not  restrain  himself  in 
his  selfish  tendencies  and  become  thoughtful  of 
their  needs  he  has  very  concrete  and  emphatic 
evidence  of  his  misconduct.  He  can  be  made  to 
see  that  it  is  misconduct  too,  and  he  will  appre- 
ciate that  punishment  therefor  is  reasonable. 
But  it  is  not  so  apparent  to  him  that  penalties 
for  failure  to  solve  his  algebra  problems,  say, 
are  justifiable. 

Pets  for  the  Boy  and  the  Girl. —  In  this  con- 
nection mention  may  be  made  of  the  value  of 
special  pets,  as  the  horse,  the  dog,  and  the  kit- 
ten, in  the  development  of  the  boy  and  the  girl. 
A  great  educator,  who  has  given  particular  at- 
tention to  the  care  and  culture  of  boys,  has  said 
that  a  boy  could  not  develop  properly  unless  he 
could  have  a  horse  to  ride  and  to  train  and  to 


114  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

care  for.  This  experience  will  teach  a  boy  as 
hardly  anything  else  can  do  to  control  his 
actions  so  that  he  can  manage  his  horse  and 
teach  him  to  do  what  is  desired  of  him.  Of 
course,  a  boy  who  has  a  horse  should  be  respon- 
sible for  his  well-being — for  feeding  him,  keep- 
ing him  clean,  exercising  him,  and  so  on. 

The  next  best  pet  for  a  boy  is  a  dog,  espe- 
cially a  collie  dog,  which  will  be  very  responsive 
to  the  boy's  expressions.  A  young  girl  will  also 
be  benefited  by  having  a  collie  dog  for  a  pet. 
Watch  children  playing  with  a  dog,  and  note  how 
lively  they  are  in  their  mental  and  bodily  activi- 
ties. They  must  make  quick  and  accurate  per- 
ceptions, and  react  readily  and  definitely.  Often 
a  boy  will  prefer  a  collie  dog  to  a  brother  or 
sister  as  a  playmate,  especially  when  the  latter 
will  not  play  fair  in  games.  Sometimes  a  brother 
or  sister  will  domineer  over  a  younger  member 
of  the  family,  and  will  not  enter  into  give-and- 
take  relations  with  him;  so  the  latter  will  prefer 
his  dog,  with  which  he  has  a  chance  to  play  the 
leading  role  in  all  games.  A  child  will  gladly 
take  his  turn  in  playing  a  part  in  which  he  must 
follow  the  commands  of  others;  but  he  will  not 
always  do  this.  For  instance,  a  five-year-old, 
will  play  horse  say,  when  his  playmate  is  the 
master.  He  will  even  stand  being  whipped,  and 
hitched  to  a  post  for  long  periods  at  a  time  in 
order  that  the  game  may  go  on;  but  he  will  not 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  115 

endure  this  always.  He  will  wish  to  take  his 
turn  at  being  the  master  himself;  and  if  his 
playmate  will  not  agree  to  this,  then  he  will  go 
to  his  horse  and  dog,  both  of  which  will  permit 
him  to  gratify  his  passion  to  be  master. 

A  boy  should  have  pets  which  will  give  him 
an  opportunity  to  express  his  interest  in  vigor- 
ous physical  activities,  as  in  wrestling  and  com- 
peting in  other  sorts  of  muscular  contests.  The 
girl,  on  the  other  hand,  will  be  more  interested 
in  and  benefited  by  pets  which  will  lend  them- 
selves to  decoration,  caressing  and  such-like 
gentle  attentions.  The  reason  a  young  girl  is 
usually  delighted  with  a  kitten  or  a  canary  is 
because  it  will  endure  to  have  ribbons  tied  about 
its  neck  and  to  be  caressed  and  cared  for  as 
though  it  were  a  young  babe.  A  pet  like  a  kitten 
serves  about  the  same  purpose  in  mental  devel- 
opment as  a  doll,  except  that  it  requires  more 
ingenuity  on  the  part  of  the  girl  to  manage  it. 

VII 

Children's  Rights  in  the  City. — ^It  is  not  easy 
to  provide  pets  and  other  facilities  for  city 
children,  but  it  is  imperative  that  the  needs  of 
city  children  be  considered  more  carefully  than 
they  'are  in  many  places.  We  are  hearing  a 
good  deal  in  these  times  about  the  rights  of 
various  groups  of  adults — women's  rights,  em- 


116  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

ployers'  rights,  workers'  rights,  and  so  on,  but 
we  rarely  hear  anything  said  about  children's 
rights.  Do  they  have  any  rights?  This  is  be- 
ing very  heatedly  discussed  just  now  in  a  mid- 
dle-western city.  Many  of  the  children  in  this 
city  have  roller  skates.  Nearly  every  one  of  them 
has  an  express  wagon  or  Flying  Dutchman  or 
Irish  Mail.  They  indulge  in  roller  skating  and 
they  operate  their  wagons  on  the  sidewalks  at 
all  hours  during  the  day.  It  need  hardly  be  said 
that  they  make  a  lot  of  noise.  Eoller  skating  is 
a  noisy  pastime  and  riding  in  a  cart  which  does 
not  have  rubber  tires  is  even  noisier.  A  num- 
ber of  citizens  in  this  city  have  written  to  the 
newspapers  complaining  about  the  frightful 
racket  which  the  children  make.  They  say  it  has 
become  so  annoying  that  it  is  impossible  to  secure 
an  hour's  quiet  anywhere  in  the  city.  Nervous 
people  declare  that  they  are  made  ill  by  these 
incessant  irritating  noises.  The  police  have  been 
asked  to  put  an  end  to  the  nuisance,  but  they  are 
unwilling  to  proceed  against  the  children  be- 
cause they  say  there  are  no  laws  which  make  it 
an  offense  for  children  to  skate  or  run  carts  on 
the  sidewalks. 

Some  of  the  parents  have  come  to  the  defense 
of  their  children.  They  maintain  that  since  the 
children  have  had  no  voice  respecting  their  hav- 
ing been  brought  into  the  city,  they  must  be  per- 
mitted to  live  their  life  in  a  child's  way.    At  the 


ETHICAL  TRAINING  117 

present  writing  the  roller-skating  and  express- 
carting  are  in  full  tide  in  all  sections  of  the  city, 
and  it  has  not  yet  been  decided  whether  or  not 
the  city  officials  will  take  any  action  against 
the  children. 

How  the  Problem  Can  he  Solved. —  This  is  a 
typical  problem  which  has  to  be  solved  sooner 
or  later  by  every  city  of  any  size,  no  matter 
whether  it  is  located  in  America  or  in  any  other 
country.  Children  who  play  on  the  streets  of 
a  crowded  city  are  always  a  disturbing  factor. 
They  not  only  make  noise  but  they  get  in  the 
way  of  pedestrians  and  commerce.  In  some 
cities  rigorous  laws  are  put  on  the  statute  books 
compelling  children  to  keep  off  the  streets.  If 
there  are  no  public  playgrounds,  then  they  are 
required  to  play  in  their  own  homes.  Of  course, 
they  often  take  a  chance  and  try  to  play  on  the 
streets,  but  they  are  always  being  chased  by  the 
police  and  frequently  penalties  are  inflicted  upon 
them  or  upon  their  parents  for  violating  the 
laws. 

No  city  has  ever  yet  solved  this  problem  satis- 
factorily which  has  not  proceeded  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  children  as  well  as  adults  have  rights 
which  must  be  respected.  These  rights  are  just 
as  important  and  vital  as  are  the  rights  of 
adults.  Adults  are  stronger,  of  course,  and 
they  have  control  of  the  resources  of  the  city 
and  can  suppress  the  children  if  they  wish  to 


118  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

do  SO,  but  SO  far  as  justice  is  concerned  tliey 
should  not  suppress  tliem. 

Does  this  mean  that  children  should  be  al- 
lowed to  roller-skate  whenever  and  wherever 
they  choose,  and  also  operate  their  express  carts 
and  throw  snowballs  and  roll  hoops  and  run 
over  the  lawns  whenever  and  wherever  they 
choose?  It  means  nothing  of  the  kind.  When 
a  large  proportion  of  the  adults  in  a  city  claim 
that  they  are  irritated  by  the  noise  which  the 
children  make  the  latter  must  be  restrained  to 
some  extent.  Either  they  must  indulge  in  their 
noise-making  activities  on  certain  streets  set 
aside  for  them,  or  if  this  is  not  feasible,  then 
they  must  play  their  noisy  games  at  certain 
times  during  the  day  and  not  at  other  times. 
An  adult  who  is  irritated  by  roller  skates,  carts 
and  the  like  might  be  able  to  work  out  his  pro- 
gram so  that  for  two  hours  each  day,  say,  the 
children  could  engage  in  these  pastimes,  if 
during  the  rest  of  the  day  the  adult  could  be 
sure  that  he  would  not  be  disturbed.  But  he 
should  not  be  expected  to  submit  to  a  regimen 
which  will  make  it  impossible  for  him  to  have 
any  hour  during  the  day  when  he  can  be  free 
from  an  irritating,  disturbing  racket. 

Of  course,  the  best  way  to  solve  this  problem 
would  be  for  a  community  to  maintain  a  play- 
ground in  ever}^  ward  in  which  there  should  be 
facilities  for  roller-skating  and  other  activities 


THICAL  TRAINING  119 

which  will  gratify  the  normal  passion  of  the 
young  to  be  active  and  to  make  noise.  Communi- 
ties provide  places  for  adults  to  indulge  their 
interests,  and  children  have  as  good  claim  on  the 
resources  of  the  community  as  have  the  adults. 


CHAPTER  IV 
FIRST  STEPS  IN  SOCIAL  TRAINING 


Man  Is  THE  Social  Animal. —  A  three-montlis- 
old  child  should  begin  to  distinguish  people,  at 
least  his  father  and  mother,  the  latter  especially, 
and  perhaps  his  brothers  and  sisters,  from  all 
other  things  with  which  he  comes  in  contact 
From  the  moment  he  makes  a  start  in  recogniz- 
ing people  as  distinct  from  inanimate  objects  and 
animals  his  social  desires  develop  with  great 
rapidity.  His  social  hunger  increases  in  intensity 
until  he  reaches  the  teens  at  any  rate.  Nature  so 
planned  it  in  order  that  the  individual  might  be- 
come a  member  of  human  society.  If  he  did  not 
like  people  better  than  dogs,  or  cats,  or  birds,  or 
the  trees  in  the  forest,  or  any  other  natural 
objects,  he  would  not  wish  to  be  with  his  kind  and 
he  would  not  sympathize  and  cooperate  with  his 
fellows.  Cats  never  develop  a  social  organiza- 
tion because  their  social  instincts  are  of  a  very 
low  order.  The  typical  cat  would  rather  be  alone 
than  to  be  a  member  of  an  organized  group  of 
cats.     The  same  is  true  in  considerable  measure 

120 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  121 

of  all  animals,  though  dogs,  monkeys  and  the  like 
show  some  social  feeling  and  desire.  But  man 
is  above  all  other  living  things  a  social  animal; 
his  nature  is  social  more  than  it  is  anything 
else. 

Since  nature  has  made  man  a  social  animal 
she  has  obligated  him  to  develop  his  social  nature 
to  the  highest  degree.  She  heavily  punishes  one 
who  is  not  social.  The  keenest  distress  any  one 
can  feel  arises  from  his  failure  to  sympathize 
with  people  and  to  receive  their  sympathy  in 
return.  If  one  will  study  the  life  of  an  unhappy 
adult  he  will  probably  find  he  is  unhappy  because 
he  does  not  know  how,  or  does  not  have  the  will 
to  live  harmoniously  with  his  fellows.  He  is 
mean,  or  selfish,  or  suspicious,  or  dishonest,  or 
revengeful,  or  unsympathetic;  or  in  some  way  he 
does  not  dwell  in  peace  and  good  will  with  the 
people  around  him,  and  they  show  him  that  they 
distrust  him  and  dislike  him  or  abhor  him  so  that 
they  Avill  have  nothing  to  do  with  him.  No  normal 
individual  can  endure  treatment  like  this  without 
extreme  distress.  Any  normal  person  would  rather 
be  afflicted  with  toothache  than  to  be  condemned 
or  shunned  by  his  fellows.  People  who  have 
physical  ills  are  often  cheerful  and  optimistic  and 
they  get  much  pleasure  out  of  life,  but  those  who 
have  no  friends  and  who  are  avoided  or  censured 
by  their  associates  are  never  optimistic,  and 
they  act  as  though  life  were  not  worth  living. 


122  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

Solitary  Confinement. —  The  most  acute  pain 
which  a  normal  person  can  suffer  arises  when 
he  is  completely  separated  from  his  fellows.  The 
tyrannical  rulers  of  the  world  understand  this, 
for  they  build  dungeons  into  which  they  put 
those  who  will  not  serve  them  or  who  threaten 
their  autocratic  rule.  Dungeons  are  always  con- 
structed so  that  any  one  who  is  imprisoned  in 
them  can  have  no  intercourse  with  other  human 
beings,  not  even  see  the  face  of  the  jailers.  Those 
who  have  had  this  experience  and  have  survived 
it  have  testified  that  it  was  only  by  a  supreme 
effort  that  they  could  save  themselves  from  mad- 
ness. Apparently  nature  destroys  a  human  mind 
that  cannot  have  contact  with  any  other  human 
mind,  as  in  the  case  of  lonely  herders  in  the 
mountains  or  isolated  lighthouse  keepers,  and 
the  like.  Of  course,  her  design  in  this  is  to 
compel  the  individual  to  seek  his  fellows  and  to 
try  to  gain  their  good  will  by  cooperating  with 
them  and  conforming  to  the  regulations  necessary 
for  the  welfare  of  all.  There  is  probably  no 
force  in  human  life  of  such  driving  power  as  the 
desire  for  social  intercourse. 

The  Child  Must  Be  Made  Socially  Efficient. — 
It  follows  that  it  is  of  supreme  importance  for 
any  child  to  be  trained  so  that  he  will  be  socially 
efficient,  in  the  sense  that  he  will  have  an  under- 
standing of  human  nature,  that  he  will  be  eager 
to    cooperate    with    his    fellows,    that    he    will 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  123 

sympathize  with  them,  and  that  he  will  gain 
pleasure  from  association  with  them.  A  child 
who  acquires  anti-social  traits  so  that  he  will  irri- 
tate people  or  arouse  their  animosity  because  of 
his  greed  or  indifference  to  their  interests,  or 
w^ho  will  not  try  to  contribute  to  the  pleasure 
of  others  is  certain  to  have  an  unhappy  life ;  and 
not  only  will  he  be  unhappy  himself,  but  he  will 
cause  unhappiness  among  those  with  whom  he 
comes  in  contact.  One  meets  such  persons  fre- 
quently. They  show  in  the  expression  of  their 
countenances  and  in  their  bearing  that  they  are 
not  solving  the  problems  of  life.  They  are  under 
strain  and  stress  much  of  the  time  because  they 
are  conscious  of  an  unceasing  struggle  to  main- 
tain themselves  in  the  face  of  condemnation  by 
their  associates.  People  often  break  down  under 
this  strain.  Social  isolation  is  the  cause  not  only 
of  extreme  mental  distress,  but  it  is  the  inciting 
cause  of  physical  disorders.  One  cannot  be 
physically  at  his  best  if  he  is  not  in  happy  rela- 
tions with  his  fellows.  One  who  is  conscious  of 
being  the  object  of  criticism,  or  distrust,  or 
censure,  or  neglect  cannot  avoid  depression,  and 
this  will  slow  down  all  the  vital  processes.  In 
time  the  individual  will  fall  a  victim  to  some 
physical  disease  simply  because  he  does  not  have 
vitality  enough  to  resist  the  invasion  of  disease 
germs,  which  are  ready  to  establish  themselves 
in  any  organism  when  the  \dtalities  are  low. 


124  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

Social  Traimng  Should  Begin  Early. —  The 
social  training  of  the  child  should  commence  the 
moment  he  begins  to  feel  the  difference  between 
persons  and  objects,  as  when  he  smiles  in  re- 
sponse to  the  salutation  of  his  father,  mother, 
brother,  or  sister.  Thereafter  he  will  con- 
stantly strive  to  be  with  people.  He  mil  cry 
to  have  his  mother  stay  with  him  or  take  him 
with  her  wherever  she  goes.'  A  four  or  five- 
months-old  child  will  not  stay  alone  if  he  can 
induce  father,  mother,  brother,  or  sister  to  stay 
with  him  by  squalling  when  they  leave  him.  In 
his  instinctive  way  he  tries  to  win  them  by  smil- 
ing at  them  and  entertaining  them  with  vocal 
play. 

A  normal  year-old  child  shows  beyond  any 
doubt  that  he  derives  his  chief  pleasure  from 
social  relations  and  activities.  It  is  true  that  he 
will  gain  some  pleasure  from  his  blocks,  his  ball, 
his  rattle,  his  pet  dog  or  kitten,  and  what  not, 
but  the  pleasure  derived  from  these  sources  is 
slight  compared  with  that  which  he  experiences 
when  he  is  with  his  mother,  father,  brother,  or 
sister.  As  he  develops,  his  social  interest  and  his 
social  need  enlarge  and  in  due  time  he  will  crave 
intercourse  with  others  besides  members  of  his 
own  family.  He  will  particularly  wish  to  be  with 
children  of  about  his  own  age  because  they  have 
interests  like  his  own.  They  wish  to  do  what  he 
wishes  to  do  so  there  is  no  conflict  between  thorn. 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  125 

If  his  mother,  father,  brother,  or  sister  can 
and  will  do  what  he  likes  to  do  then  he  will 
choose  to  be  with  them  rather  than  with  those  of 
his  own  age  because  they  can  help  him  to  do 
more  things  that  he  wishes  to  do  than  can  any- 
one of  his  own  age.  Not  infrequently  one  sees 
a  two-  or  three-  or  four-year-old  child  who  prefers 
to  play  with  an  adult, — it  may  be  father,  mother, 
aunt  or  uncle,  or  even  a  neighbor,  rather  than 
with  one  of  his  own  age,  because  this  adult  can 
be  as  a  child  in  his  spontaneity  and  playful  inter- 
est and  at  the  same  time  be  as  a  groA\Ti-up  person 
in  resourcefulness.  The  ideal  playmate  for  a 
child  is  one  who  while  genuinely  spontaneous  and 
playful  is  at  the  same  time  capable  of  doing 
many  things  which  the  child  himself  cannot  do. 

II 

The  Chief  Need  of  the  Child. —  The  chief  need 
of  the  child  is  to  play  freely  because  through  play 
he  develops  body  and  mind.  He  does  not  know 
he  is  developing  himself  when  he  plays,  but 
Nature  understands  the  matter  very  well,  and 
she  has  taken  pains  to  implant  in  the  child  such 
a  passion  for  play  that  nothing  will  stop  it,  not 
even  the  most  unsympathetic  and  harsh  parent. 
If  persons  will  not  play  Avith  him  then  he  will 
play  with  pets  if  he  can  find  them.  If  there  is  no 
living  thing  which  will  cooperate  with  him  in  his 


126  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

play  then  he  will  endow  inanimate  objects  with 
life  and  he  will  carry  on  his  play  with  them.  Play 
he  must,  no  matter  what  kind  of  environment  he 
is  in;  but  it  will  be  fortunate  for  him  if  he  is 
surrounded  by  persons  who  can  take  his  point 
of  view  and  help  him  to  indulge  his  passion  for 
play. 

It  was  said  above  that  play  is  essential  to  the 
development  of  mind  and  body ;  but  it  also  affords 
opportunity  for  the  child  to  strengthen  his  social 
tendencies  and  to  enlarge  the  range  of  his  social 
understanding  and  social  interests.  In  his  play 
he  will  leam  that  all  people  have  needs  and 
desires  like  his  own.  They,  too,  wish  to  play 
and  there  must  be  give-and-take.  One  cannot 
do  as  he  wishes  unless  others  can  do  as  they 
wish.  One  must  help  others  to  realize  their 
desires  if  he  is  to  receive  their  help  in  the  attain- 
ment of  his  own  desires.  The  year-old  child  can 
begin  to  leam  the  lesson  of  give-and-take  in  social 
relationships.  His  parents  and  his  brothers  and 
sisters  will  play  his  little  games  with  him,  and 
they  will  impress  upon  him  that  each  must  take 
his  turn  and  no  one  will  be  allowed  to  have  the 
best  of  everything  always.  He  will  be  very  slow 
in  connecting  the  lack  of  restraint  and  his 
thoughtlessness  with  the  pain  which  they  create 
in  others  and  the  penalty  he  suffers  by  forfeiting 
his  association  with  them,  or  possibly  even  by 
being  punished   by   them;   but   if   the   lesson   is 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  127 

continued  every  day  without  varying  or  relapse 
he  will  learn  it  in  due  time.  This  is  the  greatest 
social  lesson  he  can  learn  and  it  is  the  para- 
mount duty  of  those  who  are  charged  with  his 
care  and  culture  to  teach  it  to  him.  He  will 
never  learn  it,  however,  unless  he  begins  his 
learning  almost  as  soon  as  he  shows  that  he 
likes  to  be  with  people. 

Tlie  First  Fault  to  Be  Avoided. —  There  are 
three  chief  faults  which  parents,  brothers  and 
sisters,  aunts  and  uncles,  and  all  who  come  in 
contact  with  a  young  child  should  be  on  their 
guard  to  avoid.  First  of  all,  there  is  danger  that 
the  child  in  present-day  life  will  not  learn  that 
in  the  measure  that  he  gives  so  will  he  receive. 
Parents,  brothers  and  sisters  and  relatives  have 
more  leisure  now  than  they  had  formerly  to  serve 
the  child,  and  they  have  a  tendency  to  do  this 
without  exacting  any  service  from  him.  One 
frequently  sees  children  five,  six,  seven  years  of 
age  or  older  who  apparently  think  that  it  is  the 
business  of  every  one  around  them  to  help  them 
to  have  a  good  time.  They  have  no  consciousness 
that  they  should  help  others  to  find  enjoyment. 
They  constantly  make  demands  upon  all  the 
members  of  their  family  to  serve  them  while  they 
give  nothing  in  return.  Children  brought  up 
under  servants  are  peculiarly  liable  to  acquire 
this  attitude  toward  people  about  them.  But 
one   sees   children  who   are   socially   spoiled   in 


128  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

homes  where  there  are  no  servants.  The  parents 
fail  to  teach  the  children  early  that  they  must 
serve  as  well  as  be  served;  that  they  must  think 
of  others  as  well  as  have  others  think  of  them. 

Nature  has  wisely  filled  a  mother's  heart  with 
affection  for  her  children,  so  that  she  will  sacri- 
fice all  things  for  their  welfare.  This  over- 
powering affection  leads  her  to  forgive  her  chil- 
dren for  their  shortcomings  and  to  overlook  their 
selfishness.  It  is  fortunate  that  the  child  makes 
such  a  profound  appeal  to  the  mother,  for  other- 
wise he  would  have  a  hard  time  of  it  indeed  dur- 
ing his  first  months.  But  while  nature  has 
thus  wisely  endowed  the  mother  with  all-embrac- 
ing love  for  her  children,  it  would  have  been 
better  if  nature  had  equipped  the  mother  so  that 
she  could  control  her  affection  by  her  reason  when 
her  children  need  social  training.  The  mother 
who  can  keep  in  view  the  future  social  activities 
of  her  children  will  see  that  during  the  early 
years  it  is  necessary  at  times  to  have  them  suifer 
the  consequences  of  selfish  action  in  order  that 
they  may  learn  how  to  restrain  their  selfishness. 

Harshness  vs.  Indulgence  in  Social  Training. — 
In  an  older  day  parents  were  too  harsh  with 
their  young  children.  They  repressed  their 
spontaneity.  The  children  always  had  to  defer 
to  the  parents.  Under  such  conditions  there 
could  not  be  ardent  friendship  between  the 
parents  and  their  children.     The  children  might 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  129 

obey  the  parents  while  they  were  in  the  home 
but  they  could  not  love  them.  They  were  not 
much  influenced  in  their  desires  by  them.  They 
did  not  like  to  be  with  them  when  they  could  be 
with  any  one  else,  so  they  would  run  away  to  the 
neighbors ;  and  when  they  reached  the  teens  they 
would  sometimes  run  away  from  home  altogether. 
Parents  used  to  be  disciplinarians  rather  than 
friends  with  their  children. 

But  friendliness  between  children  and  parents 
has  been  constantly  growing.  In  some  cases  it 
has  gone  so  far  that  parents  fail  to  restrain  the 
children  or  have  them  suffer  the  results  of  their 
selfishness  and  thoughtlessness.  It  is  probably 
just  as  harmful  to  the  child's  social  develop- 
ment to  have  the  parents  overlook  his  mean  and 
selfish  and  domineering  action  as  to  suppress  his 
spontaneity  and  keep  him  in  a  constant  attitude 
of  fear.  The  wise  course  lies  somewhere  between 
these  extremes ;  the  parent  should  at  all  hazards 
retain  the  friendship  and  good  will  of  his  chil- 
dren, but  he  should  try  at  the  same  time  to  have 
them  learn  the  lesson  of  fair  play  in  their  social 
relations. 

Ill 

The  Second  Fault  to  Be  Avoided, —  The  second 
fault  to  be  avoided  in  social  training  is  the  fail- 
ure of -parents  to  be  sympathetic  with  and  re- 
sponsive to  the  child  in  his  spontaneous  expres- 


130  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

sion.  In  mature  life  the  individual  who  is  spon- 
taneous and  responsive  and  who  can  play  the 
social  game  fair  is  the  one  who  gets  the  most 
out  of  his  social  relations  because  he  gives  the 
greatest  pleasure  to  the  people  with  whom  he  is 
associated.  Now,  it  is  a  fine  problem  to  keep  a 
child  spontaneous  and  responsive  and  at  the  same 
time  have  him  form  habits  of  restraining  his 
selfish  and  domineering  impulses.  No  one  can 
train  a  child  in  this  way  who  is  not  himself  spon- 
taneous and  responsive  and  fair  in  his  social 
relations ;  and  a  trainer  must  have  the  welfare  of 
the  child  and  not  his  own  ease  at  heart.  He 
must  not  suppress  a  child  who  is  spontaneous 
just  because  he  himself  likes  ease.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  must  not  indulge  a  child  in  actions  which 
later  on  will  arouse  the  antagonism  of  people 
just  because  he  cannot  endure  to  have  the  child 
denied  any  pleasure  which  he  craves.  A  parent 
who  will  always  keep  the  future  welfare  of  the 
child  in  mind  will  not  be  likely  to  go  far  astray 
in  his  training,  providing,  of  course,  that  he 
remembers  that  the  young  child  is  impulsive  and 
tends  to  rush  headlong  in  the  direction  in  which 
he  wishes  to  go  without  regard  to  consequences. 
The  Third  Fault  to  Be  Avoided. —  One  who  has 
an  opportunity  to  study  a  large  body  of  young 
people  in  their  social  relations  can  hardly  fail 
to  become  impressed  with  the  fact  that  those 
who  have  had  too  much  '^ party''  activity  in  the 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  131 

early  years  are  apt  later  on  to  lose  their  interest 
in  people,  except  in  a  small  exclusive  group.  They 
become  socially  blase.  They  will  not  attend  social 
functions  of  a  democratic  character.  They  pooh- 
pooh  at  church  sociables  and  all  general  social 
gatherings.  They  do  not  speak  well  of  human 
beings  as  such.  In  listening  to  their  talk  about 
people,  one  would  get  the  impression  that  the 
typical  man  or  woman  is  no  more  interesting 
than  a  dog  or  a  horse. 

Here  is  a  concrete  instance.  A  boy,  now 
twenty  years  of  age,  was  brought  up  in  a  home 
in  which  there  was  an  excess  of  social  activity. 
People  were  constantly  coming  into  the  house 
for  parties,  and  the  boy  had  always  to  partici- 
pate in  these  social  functions.  His  parents  liked 
to  show  him  off.  He  would  often  be  the  topic  of 
conversation  whenever  guests  were  present.  He 
did  not  much  enjoy  this  sort  of  thing,  but  his 
parents  thought  he  needed  the  training,  and 
they  insisted  upon  his  being  present  on  every 
social  occasion,  and  making  himself  agreeable  to 
guests.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  was  not  very 
agreeable,  but  the  parents  apparently  thought 
this  was  the  reason  why  he  should  be  compelled 
to  participate  in  all  their  social  life.  They  thought 
he  would  grow  up  boorish  and  unsocial  if  left  to 
follow  his  own  choice  in  this  matter. 

The  parents  gave  a  number  of  children's 
parties -each  year  for  this  boy.     AVlien  he  was 


132  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

eleven  he  began  to  have  dancing  parties,  and  he 
attended  dances  given  by  the  parents  of  the  chil- 
dren in  his  ^^set.''  There  were  other  kinds  of 
parties,  too ;  and  when  people  were  not  coming  to 
his  house,  he  was  generally  going  to  somebody 
else's  house.  By  the  time  he  reached  the  teens 
he  frequently  would  rebel  against  going  to  some 
of  the  parties,  but  the  mother  felt  he  needed  the 
experience,  and  so  she  always  made  him  go  when- 
ever he  had  an  invitation. 

But  now  when  he  is  away  from  his  parents* 
influence  he  scoffs  at  every  kind  of  democratic 
social  function.  He  belongs  to  a  small  fraternity 
of  young  fellows  who  do  not  enjoy  general  social 
activities.  They  must  have  something  very 
stimulating  socially  in  order  to  awaken  their 
interest  at  all.  Most  people  are  too  tame  and 
commonplace  for  them.  They  ripened  up  socially 
too  early,  and  they  have  already  gone  to  seed. 

Hunger  for  Social  Contact. —  On  the  other 
hand,  one  who  can  study  large  groups  of  young 
men  and  women  will  have  plenty  of  opportunity 
to  see  that,  allowing  for  exceptions,  those  who 
did  not  get  their  till  of  social  life  in  the  early 
years  continue  to  have  a  desire  for  it  now.  They 
are,  as  a  rule,  hungry  for  social  intercourse. 
People  are  interesting  to  them,  and  they  make 
themselves  agreeable  to  others.  They  are  not 
in  the  least  blase  socially,  and  they  probably 
never  will  be.     This  is  the  sort  of  person  who. 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  133 

when  mature,  is  a  good  friend,  wlio  is  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  the  people  around  him,  and  who 
gives  pleasure  to  others  as  well  as  getting  pleas- 
ure out  of  life  for  himself. 

Of  course,  a  child  ought  to  have  enough  social 
activity  so  that  he  will  acquire  ease  when  he  is 
in  the  presence  of  others.  If  he  is  kept  too  much 
from  people  of  his  own  age,  as  w^ell  as  those 
older  than  himself,  he  may  be  self-conscious  and 
embarrassed  in  contact  with  people  when  he 
comes  to  maturity.  One  does  see  young  men 
and  women  of  this  sort.  They  are  afraid  of 
people.  They  do  not  know  how  to  express  them- 
selves when  they  are  in  company,  and  so  they 
are  usually  silent.  In  consequence  of  this  they 
do  not  add  much  to  the  pleasure  of  the  people 
around  them,  and  they  are  usually  more  or  less 
unhappy  themselves,  because  they  realize  they 
are  socially  incapable.  This  is  perhaps  as  un- 
fortunate for  a  young  person  as  to  be  blase  in 
regard  to  social  matters. 

IV 

^^ Brotherly  Love/' —  Turning  now  to  the  social 
training  which  brothers  and  sisters  give  each 
other  it  may  be  noted  first  that  there  are  two 
profound  impulses  which  conflict  with  one 
another  in  every  family.  One  leads  individual 
members  of  the  family  to  look  out  first  for  them- 


134  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

selves  and  to  secure  whatever  they  wish 
without  much  regard  to  the  interests  or  needs  of 
others.  This  is  the  cause  of  much  rivalry  and 
conflict  even  in  families  in  which  there  is  an 
abundance  of  the  things  that  all  desire.  Acting 
on  this  impulse,  brothers  and  sisters  tend  to 
criticise  one  another  without  much  restraint.  This 
is  the  case  particularly  when  there  are  two 
or  three  boys  in  a  family  who  have  substantially^ 
the  same  circle  of  friends,  or  go  to  the  same 
school,  or  participate  in  the  same  games.  The 
typical  boy  up  to  the  age  of  nineteen  or  twenty 
will  be  more  critical  of  his  brother  than  he  will 
be  of  an  outsider;  he  will  often  condemn  his 
brother  soundly  for  holding  views  or  performing 
acts  which  he  will  entirely  overlook  in  a  boy  in 
another  family  who  is  his  companion. 

This  biological  impulse  urges  members  of  a 
family  to  go  off  along  their  own  independent 
routes  quite  early.  Nature  seems  to  have  de- 
signed it  so  that  there  should  be  intermingling 
of  families  rather  than  that  the  members  of  one 
family  should  stick  together  in  an  isolated,  ex- 
clusive way.  Out  of  this  tendency  has  grown 
human  society  as  we  know  it.  There  could  not  be 
anything  like  social  unity  on  a  large  scale  if  the 
members  of  a  family  did  not  form  strong  attach- 
ments outside  of  the  family.  This  seems  to  be  a 
comprehensive  law  in  the  animal  world.  At  some 
point    in    the    course    of    their    development    all 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  135 

young  animals  are  seized  with  a  passion  to  get 
away  from  tlie  nest,  or  the  lair,  or  the  den,  and 
strike  out  into  the  world. 

The  second  impulse  operating  in  every  family, 
in  conflict  with  the  first  impulse  but  developed 
later  than  it,  is  the  fraternal  one.  This  leads 
the  members  of  the  family  to  cooperate,  to  be 
friends  instead  of  rivals.  The  chief  effort  of 
most  parents  is  to  develop  good  will  and 
brotherly  love  among  their  children,  for  it  is 
distressing  to  them  to  observe  rivalry  and  antag- 
onism between  the  members  of  their  flock.  Usu- 
ally a  parent  cannot  understand  why  brothers 
and  sisters  should  ever  be  indifferent  or  harsh 
toward  one  another.  What  the  parent  may  often 
overlook  in  a  child,  a  brother  or  sister  will  seize 
upon  and  make  the  most  of  so  as  to  annoy  or 
hector  him.  Also  what  a  parent  enjoys  in  a  child 
as  a  naive  or  clever  expression  may  often  be 
ridiculed  by  a  brother  or  sister.  Further,  what 
a  parent  may  admire  in  a  child  in  the  way  of 
self-expression  and  independence  of  judgment 
may  be  to  the  brothers  and  sisters  much  like  a 
red  rag  in  a  poultry  yard.  At  the  same  time, 
brothers  who  are  in  conflict  a  considerable  part 
of  the  time  when  they  are  kept  together  within 
their  home  are  likely  to  hold  together  when  they 
get  out  in  the  world  and  meet  antagonists.  A 
boy  may  quarrel  incessantly  with  his  brother 
when  there  are  no  enemies  to  be  faced,  but  when 


136  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

the  enemy  does  come  he  will  join  with  his 
brother  and  defend  him. 

Rivalry  in  a  Family. —  Many  parents  do  not 
like  to  have  their  children  separated  from  one 
another  or  go  their  several  ways  independ- 
ently. They  wish  them  always  to  go  to  the  same 
places  together  and  engage  in  the  same  activities. 
Parents  will  keep  two  brothers  together  in  the 
same  school,  for  instance,  and  in  the  same  classes, 
in  the  belief  that  they  will  help  each  other  and 
become  more  firmly  attached  to  each  other.  But 
the  brothers  may  become  critical  of  actions  and 
impressions  in  one  another  which  they  would  not 
notice  in  their  friends.  It  would  be  better  as  a 
rule  if  the  brothers  were  in  different  classes  and 
even  in  different  schools.  The  best  way  to  de- 
velop and  preserve  brotherly  love  in  a  family 
is  to  arrange  it  so  that  when  the  various  mem- 
bers come  together  each  can  contribute  something 
fresh  and  original  which  will  awaken  the  interest 
and  win  the  admiration  of  the  others. 

The  period  for  most  active  rivalry  among 
boys  in  a  family  extends  from  the  age  of  three  or 
four  into  the  teens.  During  the  latter  part 
of  the  teens  the  appreciation  of  community  inter- 
ests in  a  family  develops.  A\^en  this  time  arrives 
brothers  are  likely  to  be  the  best  of  friends,  espe- 
cially if  they  are  not  kept  constantly  together  in 
school  and  out,  confined  to  the  same  interests  and 
companions  during  the  early  teens. 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  137 

Parents  should  take  a  biological  view  of  the 
situation,  and  when  they  do  they  will  not  be 
much  disturbed  by  the  rivalry  and  conflict  among 
their  children.  Parents  should  further  consider 
that  their  children  will  in  maturity  have  to  form 
connections  with  people  in  the  world,  and  they 
had  better  begin  doing  this  reasonably  early. 
Even  if  a  parent  could  bring  up  a  child  so  that 
he  would  have  no  interest  in  persons  outside  of 
the  home,  but  would  be  wholly  content  with  the 
companionship  of  his  brothers  and  sisters,  it 
would  be  wrong  to  train  him  this  way.  It  would 
unfit  him  for  the  real  life  he  must  live. 

A  Boy  Will  Not  Endure  Being  '^ Bossed^'  by 
a  Brother. —  There  is  another  aspect  of  this 
matter  of  brotherly  love.  It  is  suggested  by  the 
complaint  of  a  certain  mother  who  says  her  son, 
four  years  of  age,  prefers  his  collie  dog  to  his 
brother  and  sister,  eleven  and  seven  years  of 
age,  respectively.  She  would  like  to  have  the 
children  play  together  in  a  fraternal  way,  but 
the  four-year-old  will  go  out  with  his  collie  and 
have  a  good  time  whenever  he  gets  the  chance. 
The  mother  thinks  this  is  a  rather  serious  fault 
in  the  boy. 

Inquiry  has  shown  that  the  older  boy  does 
not  treat  his  brother  very  well.  He  domineers 
over  him.  He  will  not  play  the  games  which  the 
younger  boy  likes  particularly.  He  will  play 
only  the  games  in  which  he  can  use  or  exploit 


138  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

the  younger  boy.  He  will  play  horse  with  him, 
for  instance,  and  use  the  whip  pretty  freely  so 
long  as  the  horse  will  stand  it.  The  younger  boy 
will  endure  this  for  a  reasonable  length  of  time, 
but  then  he  will  rebel.  In  the  house  the  older 
boy  insists  upon  having  his  own  way  about  games 
or  he  will  go  off  and  read  by  himself. 

As  for  the  sister,  she  is  ^* touchy."  She  does 
not  want  anyone  to  ^^fool  with  her  things."  So 
she  snaps  a  good  deal  at  the  younger  boy  when 
he  is  around  her.  The  parents  rather  side  with 
her  in  any  contest,  partly  because  she  is  a  girl, 
but  mainly  because  she  is  the  youngest  in  the 
family. 

Quite  naturally,  then,  the  younger  boy  will 
much  of  the  time  prefer  his  collie  dog  to  his 
brother  and  sister.  The  collie  will  play  with 
him  whenever  he  wishes.  The  dog  will  not 
domineer  over  the  boy  or  bully  him.  He  can  have 
a  good  time  with  his  dog  because  he  can  express 
himself  freely.  He  is  not  continually  exploited 
on  the  one  hand  or  scolded  on  the  other.  This 
is  why  he  chooses  his  dog  as  a  playmate  over 
his  brother  and  sister. 

No  normal  human  being,  young  or  old,  will 
gladly  endure  continuous  repression  or  exploita- 
tion. Everyone  tries  to  choose  his  companions 
according  as  they  will  give  him  freedom  and 
opportunity  to  express  himself.  No  person  will 
voluntarily  select  as  a  companion  anyone  who 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  139 

habitnally  bullies  him  or  will  not  play  the  game 
with  him  in  a  give-and-take  manner,  but  who  in- 
sists upon  gratifying  his  own  desires  on  every 
occasion. 

Unless  a  mother  can  devise  games,  plays,  and 
occupations  in  which  all  children  can  take  a  part, 
and  in  which  each  will  have  a  fair  chance  to 
express  his  individuality  and  his  desires,  then 
she  cannot  make  them  good  friends  one  of 
another.  Considering  the  special  case  mentioned 
at  the  outset,  it  would  be  better  for  the  mother 
to  let  the  four-year-old  play  with  his  collie  than 
to  force  him  to  play  with  either  his  brother  or  his 
sister. 

When  Parents  Hector  One  Another, —  In  some 
families  the  father  and  mother  are  constantly 
correcting  one  another  in  respect  to  unimportant 
details  and  this  has  a  bad  influence  on  the  social 
training  of  the  children.  If  the  father  says  inci- 
dentally that  the  snow  is  six  inches  deep,  for 
instance,  the  mother  may  say,  ^^Oh,  no!  It  is 
not  more  than  five  and  a  half  inches.''  If  the 
mother  says  that  the  hardest  wind  of  the  season 
blew  last  night,  the  father  may  say  that  it  was 
not  as  hard  as  the  wind  that  blew  a  week  ago, 
and  so  on.  Hardly  any  statement  can  be  made 
by  one  that  is  not  questioned  or  modified  by  the 
other.  People  sometimes  get  into  a  habit  of 
hectoring  one  another  in  this  way,  which  develops 
irritable  relations  in  a  family. 


140  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

It  is  instinctive  in  many  persons  to  humiliate 
other  people  by  pointing-  out  their  shortcomings, 
whether  intellectual,  physical,  social,  ethical,  or 
temperamental.  This  instinct  comes  from  afar, 
from  our  remote  ancestors,  in  fact.  Among 
primitive  people  hectoring  is  a  prominent  sport; 
hector  or  be  hectored  is  the  law  of  life  among 
them.  The  one  who  can  bully  others  most 
effectively  will  have  an  advantage.  If  he  can 
irritate  them  he  can  get  the  better  of  them 
physically.  If  he  can  humiliate  them  he  can  rise 
above  them  socially. 

We  have  reached  the  time  now,  though, 
when  this  sort  of  thing  is  extremely  irritating, 
but  still  many  husbands  and  wives  keep  it  up. 
They  would  not  humiliate  strangers  or  exhibit 
their  carping  traits  at  a  dinner  party,  but  they 
will  do  so  constantly  in  their  own  family. 

When  this  practice  gets  established  in  a  family 
it  sets  one  member  against  another.  People  who 
hector  each  other  cannot  be  good  fellows  and 
chums  together.  One  can  never  find  a  cooper- 
ative or  harmonious  life  in  such  families.  One 
member  will  be  constantly  tripping  up  the  others 
in  any  statement  that  is  made.  No  matter  what 
the  subject  of  conversation  may  be,  let  one  mem- 
ber take  one  position  and  another  will  uphold  the 
opposite  view. 

Independence  vs,  Captiousness, —  While  this 
captious    and    disputatious    attitude    should    be 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  141 

frowned  upon  in  a  family,  still  parents  ought  to 
encourage   originality  and  independence   in  the 
discussion  of  matters  of  vital  importance.     If  a 
child  should  make  the  statement,  for  instance, 
that  our  country  ought  to  require  every  person 
between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  thirty-five  to 
have  military  training,  and  another  child  should 
take  exception  to  this,  it  will  be  of  advantage 
to  all  members  of  the  family  to  have  the  subject 
discussed  in  a  fair-minded  way.    If  parents  begin 
early  enough,   they   can  help   their   children   to 
cultivate  an  independent  but  at  the  same  time 
fair  attitude  in  the  discussion  of  any  question 
that   may   arise.      Parents    should   sit   in   judg- 
ment upon   the   method   of   discussion   of   their 
children.    If  one  mem^ber  of  the  family  is  inclined 
to  be  merely  contentious,  but  not  to  present  his 
views  in  a  fair  way,  then  he  ought  to  be  decided  * 
against,  and  the  judgment  of  the  whole  family 
should  be  secured  against  him.    It  is  a  good  train- 
ing for  a  child  to  receive  the  hostile  sentiments  of 
the  members  of  the  family  if  in  his  talk  he  seeks 
to  humiliate  or  to  take  unfair  advantage  of  his 
contestant.     Sometimes  a  boy  in  a  family  will 
seek  to  cast  ridicule  upon  a  brother  or  sister  by 
the  tone  of  the  voice,  or  expression  of  the  face, 
or  calling  names,  and  so  on.    The  more  soundly 
he  is  condemned  for  this  by  the  entire  family 
the  better  it  will  be  for  him  and  for  all  who 
have  to  associate  with  him. 


142  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 


Choosing  Companions. —  An  infant  shows  but 
slight  inclination  to  discriminate  between  his 
associates;  but  before  the  close  of  the  second 
year  he  manifests  a  desire  to  be  with  certain  of 
the  persons  about  him  rather  than  with  others. 
The  year-old  child  is  apt  to  show  clearly  that  he 
would  rather  be  with  his  father  than  with  his 
mother,  or  vice  versa.  He  is  likely  to  choose  his 
sister  rather  than  his  brother,  or  the  other  way 
^round.  As  he  develops,  this  discrimination  be- 
tween persons  becomes  ever  more  marked.  The 
five-year-old  boy  is  very  decided  in  his  choice 
of  associates,  and  the  one  quality  more  than  any 
other  which  he  demands  in  a  companion  is  that 
he  should  be  resourceful  in  ^^ doing  things,'*  in 
leading  in  new  games  or  tricks,  or  in  undertaking 
new  adventures. 

Among  boys  from  four  or  five  years  up  to 
eighteen  or  twenty,  intellectual  superiority  as 
measured  by  school  work  is  not  rated  high  as  a 
quality  in  the  choice  of  a  companion.  The  boy 
who  has  the  highest  marks  in  school  is  generally 
not  a  favorite  on  the  playground,  unless  at  the 
same  time  he  has  courage,  skill,  and  ingenuity 
in  the  games  he  plays.  For  a  boy  to  be  excellent 
in  books  is  no  recommendation  to  his  fellows  for 
comradeship.  Nor  does  the  typical  group  of  boys 
regard  moral  excellence  in  one  of  their  number 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  143 

as  a  quality  of  much  consequence.  The  boy  who 
stands  first  in  the  school  or  in  deportment  is  often 
marked  lowest  in  good-fellowship  by  his  ^'set," 
because  he  is  likely  to  be  static — a  ^^  sissy  *' — 
without  ability  as  a  leader.  Ordinarily  the 
qualities  which  count  for  the  most  in  many  a 
home  and  schoolroom  count  for  the  least  in  the 
rather  rough,  dramatic,  and  dynamic  life  of  the 
playground  or  of  the  street. 

It  is  not  much  different  with  young  girls. 
They,  too,  wish  as  companions  those  who  can 
**do  things. '^  But  of  course,  they  are  not  as 
rough  and  muscular  in  their  interests  as  boys,  so 
that  they  can  the  more  readily  appreciate  charac- 
teristics which  lead  to  excellence  in  studies  and 
in  conduct.  A  boy  rather  scorns  a  **  well-be- 
haved'' fellow  of  his  own  age;  but  this  is  not 
usually  the  case  with  a  girl.  Often  in  groups  of 
girls  from  nine  or  ten  years  on,  the  one  who 
stands  highest  in  the  school  is  the  leader  of  her 
^^set,''  but  very  rarely  is  this  the  case  with  boys. 

Neither  Wealth  Nor  Social  Station  Is  Consid- 
ered in  Choosing  Companions. —  Wealth  does  not 
count  for  much  in  determining  companionship 
among  young  boys.  Dress  plays  little  if  any 
part  in  the  companionship  of  boys  until  they  are 
past  the  teens.  The  social  status  of  parents  is 
not  considered.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  boys  would 
obliterate  all  class  distinctions  if  they  could  have 
their  way,  and  they  would  establish  a  social  sys- 


144  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

tern  based  on  superiority  in  muscular  and  heroic 
qualities.  The  indifference  of  the  typical  boy  up 
to  seventeen  or  eighteen  to  the  ordinary  social 
stratifications  in  his  community  is  shown  in  his 
readiness  to  choose  a  colored  boy  as  a  com- 
panion, if  the  latter  excels  in  athletics  or  in  some 
other  concrete  and  interesting  activity.  If  he 
be  clever  at  making  interesting  things,  as  a  boat, 
for  instance,  or  in  playing  the  guitar,  or  in  sing- 
ing familiar  songs,  he  is  likely  to  become  a  favor- 
ite with  the  boys. 

But  when  girls  come  to  the  teens,  the  social 
lines  drawn  by  their  parents  begin  to  make 
cleavages  among  them.  The  conventions  of 
society  press  down  upon  the  girl  much  more  than 
they  do  upon  the  boy.  Early  in  the  teens  dress 
becomes  an  important  factor  in  determining  her 
comradeships.  The  boy  igTiores  all  outward  evi- 
dences of  social  status,  but  society  forces  these 
things  upon  the  girPs  attention.  One  can  see 
groupings  of  girls  in  the  eighth  grade,  say,  or  in 
the  high  school,  formed  on  the  basis  of  the  social 
caste  of  their  parents,  when  no  such  groupings 
could  exist  among  the  boys  of  the  same  families. 

Adults  as  Companions  of  the  Young. —  When 
it  comes  to  the  child's  choice  of  associates 
among  adults,  what  he  wants  is  a  companion,  not 
an  adviser.  Companionship  means  give-and-take 
relations.  Companionship  is  impossible  between 
two   people   when   one   individual   feels   himself 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  145 

above  or  beneath  the  other,  so  that  he  must  be 
either  austere  and  autocratic,  or  humble  and  sub- 
servient. When  the  child  is  overawed  by  an 
adult  he  cannot  find  pleasure  in  his  presence,  and 
so  he  will  not  choose  him  as  a  companion.  The 
parent  or  teacher  who  wins  the  good  will  of 
children  must  enter  into  their  games  and  play  his 
part  like  any  other  member  of  the  group,  so  that 
all  may  feel  perfectly  free  to  express  themselves 
according  to  their  interests  and  their  capacities. 
But  when  a  parent  or  teacher  comes  into  a  group 
and  sets  up  inhibitions  and  restraints  in  its  mem- 
bers, he  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  favorite.  On 
the  contrary,  he  will  be  avoided  by  the  group 
whenever  possible. 

The  natural  leader  of  the  young  is  the  one  who 
can  do  many  things  in  such  a  way  as  to  interest 
children,  and  so  to  set  models  for  them  to  imitate. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  great 
scholar  or  great  moralist  is  never  a  favorite  with 
children,  on  the  basis  simply  of  his  intellect  or 
his  conduct.  Ordinarily  a  minister  is  not  a 
favorite  with  the  young  of  any  age,  because  he  is 
apt  to  suggest  too  great  restraint,  which  is  always 
displeasing  to  the  young.  Sometimes  an  adult 
tries  to  make  himself  agreeable  to  children,  but 
they  may  instantly  recognize  that  he  is  doing  it 
for  a  purpose,  and  is  not  genuine  in  it.  The 
result  is  that  he  is  not  acceptable  as  an  associate 
no  matter  how  much  he  may  wdsh  to  be. 


146  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

He  tends  to  break  up  the  group  solidarity,  and 
so  is  regarded  as  an  *^ outsider.'' 

The  one  essential  for  a  parent,  if  he  wishes 
to  be  a  leader  among  his  children  in  their  spon- 
taneous life,  is  that  he  shall  cultivate  qualities 
which  will  not  make  him  appear  to  be  an  ^'out- 
sider." No  person  who  is  not  felt  to  be  a  real 
member  of  a  group,  at  least  for  the  time  being, 
and  to  have  a  genuine  interest  in  its  activities, 
and  some  ability  to  take  part  in  them,  can  win 
the  confidence  of  the  group,  or  have  much  influ- 
ence with  it. 

VI 

The  Child 's  Passion  to  Win. —  It  will  be  impos- 
sible for  any  one  to  train  a  child  in  his  social 
relations  who  does  not  understand  that  the  pas- 
sion to  win  in  all  contests  is'  planted  very  deep 
in  human  nature.  A  concrete  instance  will  illus- 
trate this  trait: 

Two  old  men,  both  of  whom  passed  the  three- 
score-and-ten  mark  over  a  decade  ago,  spend 
some  time  every  day  playing  checkers  and  back- 
gammon together.  They  always  begin  their 
games  in  a  friendly  spirit  but  they  usually  break 
up  in  bad  feeling,  saying  sharp  things  to  each 
other,  and  accusing  each  other  of  having  taken 
an  unfair  advantage.  To  one  looking  on  it  seems 
very  foolish  for  these  two  octogenarians  to 
quarrel  about  their  games.     But  they  take  the 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  147 

matter  seriously.  They  are  as  eager  to  win  a 
game  of  checkers  or  back-gammon  now  as  they 
were  eager  to  win  their  wrestling  and  running 
and  climbing  and  swimming  and  other  contests 
seventy  years  ago. 

This  incident  is  typical  of  what  may  be  ob- 
served in  the  relations  of  people  at  every  age, 
almost  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  These  two 
old  men  who  have  lost  most  of  their  other 
impulses  have  retained  the  passion  to  win  in  their 
contests.  The  passion  appears  very  early  in  life 
and  it  outlasts  most  other  interests.  It  has  been 
implanted  very  deep  in  human  nature.  It  is  the 
spur  to  most  of  the  effort  which  anyone  puts 
forth  in  life,  and  it  is  the  cause  of  practically  all 
the  competitive  struggles  and  most  of  the  conflict 
and  unhappiness  in  life. 

The  passion  to  win  in  any  and  every  kind  of 
competitive  experiences  reaches  its  height  by  the 
third  or  fourth  year  and  continues  unabated 
practically  to  the  end  of  life.  A  normal  four^ 
year-old  child  is  rarely  if  every  willing  to  be 
defeated  if  he  can  prevent  it  in  any  contest  with 
his  fellows.  He  will  exert  himself  to  the  limit  to 
get  ahead  in  his  races,  to  be  it  in  ball  games,  to 
climb  trees  faster  and  higher  than  any  of  his 
fellows,  to  yell  louder,  to  throw  farther  and 
straighter,  to  jump  higher  and  so  on  than  any 
of  his  rivals.  It  is  this  impulse  which  spurs  him 
on  to  develop  his  talents.     It  stimulates  him  in 


148  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

school  to  reach  the  head  of  the  class.  If  he  does 
not  feel  this  driving  force  he  will  be  likely  to  be 
found  at  the  foot  of  his  class  all  the  time.  In 
high  school  and  college  the  wish  to  be  first  in  any 
activity  leads  to  the  development  of  superior 
ability  in  debating,  in  music,  in  literary  work,  in 
class  work  and  the  like.  If  this  impulse  should 
be  left  out  of  an  individuaPs  life  he  would  be  a 
useless  piece  of  luggage. 

The  Passion  to  Win  in  Arguments. —  The  pas- 
sion to  win  is  manifested  as  vigorously  and  tena- 
ciously in  arguments  as  in  any  games  or  plays. 
Observe  two  persons  of  any  age  from  the  fourth 
year  on  to  the  grave  arguing  on  some  topic.  It 
will  soon  become  apparent  that  the  debaters  are 
not  seeking  to  find  out  the  truth  in  respect  to 
the  matter  concerning  which  they  disagree.  Each 
is  trying  to  win  over  his  adversary.  Each  exerts 
himself  to  talk  faster  or  louder  or  to  use  phrases 
or  illustrations  which  will  overcome  his  antag- 
onist. Frequently  one  has  to  sit  by  while  a 
father  or  mother  argues  a  question  with  a  child. 
The  parents  think  they  are  engaged  in  a  worthy 
undertaking  in  striving  to  lead  the  child  into  the 
light,  but  the  chances  are  that  they  are  more 
eager  to  succeed  in  the  contest  than  they  are  to 
dispel  error  from  the  child's  mind.  It  is  certain 
that  the  child  is  chiefly  concerned  about  winning. 
His  instincts  urge  him  to  resist  being  overcome 
even  by  his  parents.    Nature  seems  to  say,  ^'De- 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  149 

fend  yourself.  Don't  give  way  in  an  argument 
any  more  than  you  would  give  way  in  a  wrestling 
match  or  in  a  fistic  encounter  with  a  rival.  Assert 
yourself;  no  matter  whether  you  are  right  or 
wrong,  stand  up  for  whatever  you  have  said  or 
done.*' 

Contest  Betiveen  Parents  and  Children. — 
Parents  are  often  unwise  in  continuing  an  argu- 
ment with  a  child  when  it  is  apparent  that  it  has 
degenerated  into  a  mere  struggle  to  see  who  can 
win.  Parents  do  not  make  a  mistake  in  this 
regard,  though,  any  more  frequently  than 
teachers  do.  Recently  the  writer  listened  to  an 
argument  between  a  teacher  and  a  pupil.  ^  The 
teacher  was  probably  in  the  right,  but  it  was 
impossible  to  convince  the  pupil,  who  was  in  such 
a  frame  of  mind  that  his  intellect  had  ceased  to 
work  effectively  upon  the  problem  under  consid- 
eration. His  whole  being  was  concentrated  on 
one  thing,  and  that  to  defend  himself,  to  come  out 
ahead  of  the  teacher  in  the  argument  so  that  he 
might  be  superior  in  the  eyes  of  his  fellows.  It 
was  not  now  a  question  of  reasonableness;  it 
was  a  matter  of  succeeding  by  any  means.  Is  not 
this  instance  typical  of  much  that  is  occurring  in 
daily  life  not  only  in  the  attitude  of  children 
toward  one  another,  but  in  the  relations  of  adults 
with  children  and  with  one  another?  Argument 
of  this  sort  usually  reaches  a  point  where  the 
reasonableness  plays  practically  no  part  in  it. 


150  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

The  situation  ceases  to  be  one  in  which  the  con- 
testants are  searching  for  trnth.  They  are  simply 
competing  as  in  a  game  of  tag.  The  wise  teacher 
will  not  keep  up  an  argument  with  a  pupil  when 
he  sees  that  the  point  has  been  reached  where 
reason  cannot  prevail.  The  moment  that  the  com- 
petitive instinct  begins  to  dominate  he  will  stop 
his  argument  and  will  say  to  himself,  ^*We  will 
look  at  this  tomorrow  when  the  instinct  is  perhaps 
allayed;  when  there  is  no  incitement  for  the 
pupils  to  resist  seeing  things  as  they  are.'' 

Turning  the  Passion  to  Good  Use. —  It  was  inti- 
mated above  that  the  impulse  to  win  serves  a 
useful  purpose;  it  stimulates  a  child  to  develop 
his  talents  to  their  fullest  capability.  It  can  be 
put  to  excellent  use  in  encouraging  a  child  to 
compete  with  himself.  Many  schools  are  now 
adopting  the  plan  of  stimulating  pupils  by  com- 
peting with  themselves  so  that  they  will  try  to 
improve  their  records  in  their  studies  and  reci- 
tations. Suppose  a  pupil  has  made  a  record  of 
*^fair'*  in  his  arithmetic.  That  is  a  mark  for 
him  to  excel.  He  becomes  his  own  competitor  in 
a  sensie.  Instead  of  trying  to  beat  the  record  of 
some  one  else  he  endeavors  to  beat  his  own 
record.  He  frequently  does  this  spontaneously  in 
his  physical  activities,  for  instance,  in  throwing 
at  a  mark,  or  jumping  over  a  bar,  or  performing 
on  a  trapeze.  The  older  the  child  grows  the  more 
effectively   he   can   be   stimulated   in    competing 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  151 

with  himself  in  establishing  better  records  in 
every  activity  in  which  he  is  interested.  One  can 
observe  older  boys  and  men  playing  on  a  golf 
links  day  after  day  trying  to  beat  their  previous 
score. 

This  trait  should  be  encouraged  in  the  home 
and  in  the  school.  Clear,  definite  records  should 
be  kept  of  a  child's  accomplishment  in  any  sub- 
ject or  in  any  activity  whatsoever,  and  the  scores 
made  from  week .  to  week  or  month  to  month 
should  be  compared.  A  normal  child  will  be 
greatly  stimulated  to  do  his  best  if  in  looking 
over  his  record  he  finds  that  he  is  slipping  back- 
ward. A  large  proportion  of  persons  will  be 
equally  stimulated  if  they  can  see  that  they  are 
gaining;  it  is  a  source  of  inspiration  for  anyone 
to  observe  that  he  is  making  improvement  in  any 
activity  which  he  is  scoring. 

The  Passion  to  Be  a  Leader. —  The  passion  to 
win  is  closely  allied  to  another  passion  which  is 
very  profound  in  childhood ;  the  passion  to  be  the 
chief  or  most  active  or  most  resourceful  member 
of  a  group.  A  concrete  instance  will  bring  the 
matter  before  us: 

Five  children  ranging  from  three  to  eight  years 
of  age  are  examining  a  complex  object,  the  con- 
struction and  use  of  which  they  do  not  under- 
stand. The  object  was  given  by  an  electrician  to 
a  boy  seven  years  of  age.  He  has  brought  it  into 
the  group  and  has  begun  to  examine  it  with  a 


152  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

view  to  determining  how  it  is  put  together  and 
how  it  works.  He  is  intensely  interested  in  his 
task,  and  he  keeps  saying,  ^^This  is  the  way  it 
works.  Now  I  see  how  it  is  made.  I  am  sure 
I  can  take  it  apart,"  etc.,  etc.  Meanwhile  the 
other  children  are  giving  concentrated  attention 
to  what  the  boy  is  doing.  Each  child  is  telling 
him  what  he  should  do.  They  are  as  excited  over 
the  mystery  as  he  is  himself.  Their  advice  annoys 
him  and  he  keeps  calling  to  them  to  **keep  still,'' 
to  ^^let  me  alone."  He  can  solve  the  puzzle,  he 
thinks,  if  they  will  simply  look  at  him  and  not 
instruct  him;  but  his  remonstrances  have  practi- 
cally no  effect  upon  the  other  children.  They 
keep  reaching  for  the  object  and  saying,  **Let  me 
take  it";  **I  see  what  to  do  with  it";  *^I  can 
show  you  how  to  handle  it,"  and  so  on.  Finally 
the  oldest  child  does  get  it  away  from  its  orig- 
inal possessor  but  not  with  the  latter 's  consent. 
He  protests,  saying  that  if  they  will  ^*keep  their 
hands  off"  he  will  soon  have  the  mystery  un- 
raveled. But  they  cannot  restrain  themselves, 
though  they  do  not  intend  to  be  disagreeable. 
They  are  all  the  best  of  friends,  cooperating 
with  one  another  in  their  enterprises,  but  now 
they  are  so  dominated  by  the  passion  to  take 
a  hand  in  solving  this  problem  that  they  are 
not  aware  that  they  are  rude.  Considerations 
of  propriety,  respect,  ownership  and  everything 
of  the  kind  are  temporarily  held  in  abeyance. 


SOCIAL  TRAINING  153 

The  one  thing  that  fills  consciousness  is  the 
determination  to  solve  that  mystery.  The 
most  aggressive  member  of  the  group  plays  the 
principal  role  in  manipulating  the  object,  but 
every  member  is  eager  to  get  the  thing  into  his 
own  hands,  believing  that  he  can  do  what  the 
others  are  unable  to  do. 

This  scene  is  typical  of  situations  that  are  aris- 
ing constantly  among  normal  children  and  prob- 
ably even  among  adults,  though  the  latter  have, 
of  course,  acquired  greater  power  of  self-control, 
which  means  that  particular  ideas  or  interests 
cannot  gain  complete  mastery  of  them.  In  the 
normal  adult  consideration  of  propriety,  etc.,  will 
restrain  an  impulse  to  grab  an  interesting  object 
away  from  another  individual;  but  it  is  different 
with  the  child.  One  can  see  children  who  ordi- 
narily have  the  most  delightful  relations  toward 
their  parents  but  who  are  wholly  unrestrained 
when  they  are  interested  in  some  object  or  some 
undertaking.  They  are  practically  hypnotized  by 
anything  which  appeals  to  them  strongly,  and  so 
it  gains  control  of  all  the  avenues  of  their 
thought  and  their  action. 

Nature  evidently  implanted  this  impulse  to 
master  difficulties  for  a  useful  end.  If  a  child 
were  content  to  sit  by  while  others  took  the  initi- 
ative in  solving  problems  what  would  he  gain 
therefrom  I  It  is  a  simple  principle  of  psychology 
that  an  individual  can  understand  and  appreci- 


154  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAININC- 

ate  only  what  he  does  for  himself.  Mere  looking 
on  while  others  do  things  will  not  yield  under- 
standing. In  the  group  described  above,  every 
child  when  he  was  acting  as  an  onlooker  was 
sure  he  knew  how  to  solve  the  problem;  but 
when  he  tried  to  solve  it  he  discovered  that  he 
had  not  perceived  accurately.  Error  can  be  de- 
tected only  by  putting  it  to  the  test.  So,  while  this 
great  passion  of  the  child  to  be  self-active  in 
solving  the  mysteries  about  him  often  brings  him 
into  conflict  with  people,  nevertheless  it  is  his 
only  safeguard  against  feeble-mindedness.  One 
who  appreciates  the  profound  character  of  this 
passion  and  sees  its  significance  in  mental  devel- 
opment will  seek  only  to  guide  never  to  repress 
or  prohibit  its  manifestations. 


CHAPTER  V 
FIRST  STEPS  IN  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 


Voice  Play  and  Learning  to  Speak. —  The 
young  of  all  creatures,  human  and  animal,  play 
for  a  longer  or  shorter  period  in  their  develop- 
ment. The  longer  the  period  the  higher  point 
they  reach  when  they  become  mature.  The  play 
period  is  a  learning  and  practice  period.  The 
kitten  chasing  a  spool  or  a  tassel  on  the  floor  is 
learning  and  practicing  the  activities  required  for 
the  capture  of  prey.  The  same  is  true  in  prin- 
ciple of  the  puppy  that  is  engaged  in  make- 
believe  combat  with  the  mother  or  with  another 
puppy.  So  nature  commands  the  child  to  re- 
hearse in  his  play  the  activities  he  will  need  to 
perform  when  he  enters  into  the  game  of  life. 
As  it  happens,  he  practices  some  activities  which 
he  will  not  need  to  perform  in  mature  life;  but 
nature  takes  no  chances.  She  says,  **Play  at 
everything  that  people  around  you  do,  or  that 
your  ancestors  have  done,  because  you  may  have 
to  do  these  things  when  you  are  grown. ' ' 

Voice  play  is  one  aspect  of  the  general  activity 

155 


156  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

of  play.  The  typical  nine-months-old  child  ought 
to  he  engaged  in  voice  play  a  good  part  of  his 
waking  hours.  If  you  will  listen  to  this  play  you 
will  note  that  he  is  spontaneously  trying  many  of 
the  sounds  and  intonations  he  will  use  in  speech 
later  on.  In  this  way  he  develops  his  vocal 
powers  for  the  very  complicated  work  to  be  per- 
formed a  few  years  later.  The  child  who  does 
not  pass  through  this  period  of  voice  play  mil 
not  acquire  speech  except  in  a  very  rudimentary 
and  imperfect  way.  It  is  a  bad  sign  when  a 
young  child  does  not  indulge  in  voice  play. 

The  Easier  Sounds  Are  First  Made. —  Children 
usually  do  not  make  an  articulate  word  until 
the  tenth  month.  Before  this  they  indulge  in 
voice  play  freely,  but  the  sounds  they  make  are 
not  organized  words,  they  are  mainly  variations 
and  combinations  of  a,  e,  e  and  o.  These  vowels 
are  made  without  the  use  of  tongue,  lips,  or 
palate,  and  so  are  the  easiest  sounds  to  produce. 
The  first  articulate  word,  Comprising  consonantal 
and  vowel  sounds,  used  by  children  is  something 
like  md-md.  It  happens  in  this  way:  The  pre- 
dominant note  in  the  early  months  resembles  close- 
ly a.  Now,  when  the  child  is  taking  his  food  he 
is  likely  to  be  a-ing  constantly,  and  as  he  closes 
and  opens  his  mouth  the  stream  of  a  sound  be- 
comes deflected  and  modified  so  that  it  appears 
to  be  something  like  ma.  An  infant  cannot  make  a 
clear-cut   m   sound   as   the  pcirent   can,   but   he 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  157 

makec  a  sound  resembling  it,  and  the  parent 
interprets  it  to  be  the  m  sound,  and  thinks  the 
child  is  saying  md-md.  The  next  consonantal 
sound  to  appear  resembles  p.  The  child  is  lying 
in  his  cradle  engaged  in  voice  play,  and  he  blows 
out  against  his  lips,  at  the  same  time  uttering 
the  d  sound.  When  the  lips  open  the  result  is  an 
explosion  resembling  pd-pd,  though  in  the  begin- 
ning the  child  cannot  make  a  clear-cut  p  sound. 
In  much  the  same  way  the  h  sound  becomes  at- 
tached to  the  d  sound,  which  results  in  hd-hd, 

''Bahtj  Talk.''—  This  is  the  way  the  child  takes 
his  first  steps  in  making  articulate  words;  but 
once  started  he  pushes  on  rapidly  until  at  four, 
sometimes  earlier,  he  is  capable  of  making  all  the 
sounds  in  their  ordinary  combinations  in  his 
native  speech.  Of  course,  there  are  children  who 
do  not  master  the  more  difficult  combinations 
until  they  are  six  or  even  seven  years  old.  Feeble- 
minded children  never  make  them.  During  the 
early  period  of  learning  it  is  impossible  for  the 
child  to  make  such  sounds  as  k  when  final,  as  in 
milk,  or  ng  in  morning,  so  he  v*dll  omit  them  in  all 
the  words  he  uses.  For  instance,  he  will  say  mi 
for  '^milk,''  leaving  off  both  the  I  and  the  k 
sounds.  He  may  not  execute  all  the  sounds  in 
^^milk"  in  their  right  order  until  he  is  three-and- 
a-half  or  four  years  of  age.  Most  children  of 
eighteen  months  will  omit  g  on  the  ends  of  all 
words   ending   in   "ing.''     They  will    substitute 


158  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

other  sounds  for  th,  fl,  sp,  and  so  on,  or  omit 
them  altogether.  Thus  **that''  will  be  made 
''dat'';  ^^spof'  will  be  ''pot'';  ^^flowers''  will  be 
''fowers'';  ^^run''  may  be  ''glun''  or  simply 
''un'';  '^drink''  may  be  ''ding''  or  "dinJc"; 
* ^ Christmas ' '  is  likely  to  be  "ismas^^  or  ^'Chlis- 
mas^^  or  ''hismas^^;  ^^hold'*  may  be  "ho";  "\qV^ 
may  be  "et";  ^^come*'  may  be  simply  "cu," 

In  the  early  months  the  child  mutilates  practi- 
cally every  word  containing  any  relatively  hard 
vocal  combinations.  But  if  he  develops  normally 
he  will  gain  more  precise  control  over  his  vocal 
organs  so  that  he  can  produce  even  the  most 
intricate  combinations.  Idiots  use  only  rudi- 
mentary words  containing  mainly  vowels,  prob- 
ably because  the  nervous  mechanisms  necessary 
to  manipulate  the  organs  of  speech  in  a  highly 
coordinated  way  do  not  develop.  An  old  person 
whose  nervous  system  is  declining  usually  falls 
back  to  the  condition  of  infancy,  so  that  he  can- 
not execute  the  difficult  combinations  in  words. 
The  very  old  man  may  say  mi  for  ^^milk/'  as  he 
did  when  he  first  tried  it  at  ten  months  of  age, 
perhaps.  He  will  leave  off  all  the  ng's  on  words, 
and  may  say  puddin'  for  ^ Spudding,*'  for  ex- 
ample. One  never  hears  the  ng  final  sound  in 
the  speech  of  a  person  who  is  drunk;  all  words 
of  any  difficulty  are  mutilated  because  the  nervous 
centers  that  control  vocal  coordinations  are  dis- 
turbed, either  temporarily  or  permanently. 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  159 

^^Baby  Talk''  and  Speech  Defects. —  By  the 
time  the  child  has  reached  his  third  birthday,  all 
these  mutilations  should  have  disappeared,  if  he 
develops  normally.  If  he  still  retains  his  ^^baby 
talk'^  it  is  an  indication  that  he  is  not  gaining 
mastery  of  speech  in  quite  the  right  way,  and 
he  should  be  given  some  special  attention.  The 
first  thing  to  da  is  to  avoid  using  "baby  talk'^ 
in  speaking  to  him;  a  parent  should  always  pre- 
vent people  from  using  mutilated  words  in  talk- 
ing to  his  child.  The  next  thing  to  do  is  to  look 
into  the  child's  physical  condition.  Does  he  have 
adenoids!  Is  he  tongue-tied?  Does  he  have 
enlarged  tonsils  or  enlarged  glands?  Is  his 
palate  properly  formed?  Are  the  nasal  passages 
open,  or  are  they  obstructed  by  congested  condi- 
tions or  misplaced  bony  structures!  In  some 
cases  the  tongue  is  so  thick  that  the  child  seems 
to  be  unable  to  use  it  to  make  the  more  difficult 
consonant  sounds. 

But  the  chief  difficulty  is  likely  to  be  found  in 
the  nasal  passages  where  there  may  be  obstruc- 
tion by  adenoids,  or  a  deflected  septum,  or  some- 
thing of  the  kind.  Any  condition  of  this  sort 
ought  to  be  remedied,  alike  for  the  correction  of 
speech  difficulties  and  for  the  improvement  of  the 
general  health. 

The  chances  are  that  a  child  who  is  normal 
physically  will  grow  through  the  period  of 
speech  mutilation,  and  will  reproduce  correctly 


160  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

all  the  sounds  in  the  language  without  special 
instruction.  But  occasionally  a  child  is  found 
who  is  normal  physically  and  mentally,  but  who 
persists  in  using  mutilated  words.  With  such 
children,  special  instruction  is  desirable.  These 
children  must  be  taught  how  to  place  the  vocal 
apparatus  in  making  the  sounds  which  give 
trouble.  Take  the  th  sound,  for  instance.  A 
parent  can  help  a  normal  three-year-old  child  by 
showing  it  how  the  vocal  organs  are  placed  in 
sounding  th  in  ^^ through,''  for  example,  or  in 
*^this"  or  ^^that.''  A  one-year-old  child  cannot 
imitate  the  position  of  the  vocal  apparatus  in 
making  particular  sounds,  but  a  typical  three- 
year-old  child  can  make  this  imitation,  at  least 
to  some  extent. 

Easy  and  Difficult  Sounds. —  The  sounds  that 
are  made  in  the  front  of  the  mouth,  so  to  speak, 
so  that  the  child  can  see  the  position  of  the 
tongue,  teeth  and  lips,  can  be  more  easily  imi- 
tated than  sounds  that  are  made  in  the  back  of 
the  mouth;  but  even  these  latter  sounds,  as,  for 
instance,  g  in  ^ Spudding''  can  be  taught  to  a 
normal  three-year-old  child  who  habitually  omits 
them.  These  sounds  cannot  be  effectively  taught 
simply  by  pronouncing  them  to  a  child.  He  must 
see  the  vocal  organs  in  position  and  in  action. 
If  necessary,  he  must  feel  them  with  his  fingers 
so  that  he  will  have  something  definite  to  imi- 
tate.    A  child  cannot  imitate  the  mere  sound  of 


Boys    who    have    opportunities    for   occupation    of   this    sort    do 
not  g-et  into  mischief. 


Children  should  have  a  thorough   physical   examin< 
twice    each    year. 


:ion  at  least 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  161 

a  word  as  readily  as  the  movement  of  the  vocal 
apparatus  which  he  can  see  or  feel. 

This  principle  is  recognized  to-day  in  teaching 
adults  a  foreign  language.  Every  good  teacher 
now  gives  phonic  lessons  at  the  beginning  of  the 
study  of  a  foreign  language.  The  student  ac- 
quires the  sounds  of  the  language  largely  by 
imitating  the  movements  of  the  vocal  apparatus 
of  his  teacher.  He  may  never  get  the  more  subtle 
sounds  of  the  foreign  language  if  the  teacher 
simply  pronounces  words  and  depends  upon  his 
scholar  to  imitate  them  through  hearing  alone. 

If  the  readers  of  these  lines,  who  have  not 
thought  of  these  matters,  will  try  themselves  to 
imitate  the  speech  of  a  foreigner  whose  language 
they  do  not  speak,  they  will  quickly  realize  that 
it  is  practically  impossible  to  reproduce  strange 
words  that  are  simply  heard.  In  the  language 
of  psychology,  one  cannot  form  a  clear  auditory 
image  of  words  with  which  he  is  unfamiliar.  Not 
until  he  has  had  experience  in  speaking  such 
words  will  the  ear  give  distinct  images  of  them. 

Correcting  Errors  in  Speech. —  Sometimes 
normal  children  fail  to  acquire  the  correct  pro- 
nunciation of  a  word  even  when  they  hear  it  cor- 
rectly pronounced.  A  parent  ought  to  watch 
for  this  and  try  to  prevent  the  child  from 
settling  down  on  a  mutilated  form.  To  illustrate : 
suppose  a  five-year-old  says  mornun  for  ^^ morn- 
ing."    The  sooner  the  parent  can  lead  him  to 


162  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

sound  the  ing  correctly  the  better;  the  longer  he 
says  mornun  the  greater  difficulty  there  will  be 
in  establishing  the  correct  pronunciation.  And 
how  can  it  be  done!  The  child  probably  does  not 
notice  a  difference  between  the  ending  of  the 
word  as  he  speaks  it  and  as  other  people  speak 
it.  It  is  a  psychological  law  that  people,  young 
or  old,  tend  to  hear  words  spoken  as  they  speak 
them;  a  man  with  a  brogue  thinks  he  speaks  as 
his  associates  do.  The  parent  may  help  the 
child  to  correct  his  fault  by  showing  him  how  the 
vocal  organs  are  placed  in  executing  ing.  A 
typical  five-year-old  child  will  be  interested  in 
trying  to  see  what  he  can  do  in  making  difficult 
vocal  combinations.'  As  soon  as  he  catches  the 
cue  of  how  to  place  his  organs  of  speech,  he  will 
be  interested  in  the  undertaking  as  a  sort  of 
game.  When  he  masters  the  ing  combination 
then  the  mother  can  lead  him  to  use  it  in  pro- 
nouncing ^'morning,''  say,  and  other  words  in 
w^hich  it  occurs.  It  will  be  necessary  to  encourage 
the  child  for  some  time  to  induce  him  to  abandon 
the  old  pronunciation,  but  it  can  be  done  if  the 
parent  will  have  patience. 

One  can  never  help  a  child  much  merely  by 
pronouncing  for  him  a  word  which  he  mutilates, 
because  he  will  not  hear  precisely  what  he  should 
hear  in  order  to  correct  his  fault.  He  will  hear 
the  word  as  a  whole,  and  will  miss  the  crucial 
part;   and   then  when  he  pronounces   it  he   will 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  163 

fall  back  into  his  old  liabit.  The  chief  defect  in 
the  teaching  of  most  parents  is  that  they  do  not 
bring  out  the  precise  points  which  they  want 
their  children  to  learn.  They  do  not  isolate  just 
the  part  or  factor  or  element  that  needs  correct- 
ing, and  hold  the  learner  ^s  attention  to  it.  The 
principle  applies  to  the  learning  of  words  as  well 
as  to  all  the  other  things  which  children  must 
learn. 

II 

Learning  the  Meanings  of  Words. —  How  does 
a  child  learn  what  the  words  used  by  the  people 
around  him  denote  ?  Every  time  one  sees  a  child 
accomplish  this  feat  completely  he  cannot  but 
marvel  at  it ;  it  is  hardly  less  than  a  miracle  that 
a  child  should  learn  the  meanings  of  all  the 
words  commonly  used  by  people  in  daily  life. 
The  most  intelligent  animal  can  learn  the  mean- 
ings of  only  a  very  few  w^ords  at  best  and  these 
must  be  concrete,  and  relate  to  objects  they  see 
or  actions  they  perform  constantly.  The  highest 
animal  cannot  learn  the  meaning  of  a  sentence 
of  any  degree  of  complexity. 

A  normal  child  begins  to  attach  some  meaning 
to  words  at  about  the  fifth  month.  By  the  time 
he  has  reached  the  eighth  month  he  should  know 
the  meaning  of  ** mamma,''  *^papa,''  ^*baby," 
*' bottle,''  ** rattle,"  and  a  half-dozen  other  words 
that  relate  to  objects  with  which  he  is  in  con- 


164  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

stant  contact.  Of  course,  at  this  age  he  cannot 
grasp  all  that  any  word,  no  matter  how  simple, 
denotes  to  an  adult,  but  he  can  and  does  learn 
what  a  word  like  *^ mamma"  means  in  terms  of 
the  pleasure  he  gains  from  his  mother.  The  mean- 
ings that  he  ascribes  to  words  at  the  outset  all 
relate  very  definitely  and  specifically  to  his  most 
impressive  experiences.  If  his  brother  always 
teases  him  or  slaps  him,  then  the  word  *^ brother" 
will  mean  a  disagreeable,  pain-giving  object  and 
nothing  more.  If  his  father  always  tosses  him 
in  the  air  when  he  is  with  him  then  ^^papa"  to 
an  eight-months-old  child  will  mean  simply  an 
object  that  will  toss  him  and  so  give  him  pleas- 
ure. It  is  the  same  with  every  word  he  learns 
for  many  months.  He  will  develop  no  meaning 
at  all  for  words  that  denote  objects  or  actions 
or  qualities  that  do  not  have  immediate  bearing 
upon  his  comfort  or  discomfort.  It  is  inconceiv- 
able, for  instance,  that  a  child  eight-months  or 
even  eighteen-months  old  should  understand  the 
meaning  of  ^^ goodness."  He  may,  if  he  is  taught 
properly,  begin  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  meaning 
of  ^^good"  as  it  relates  to  his  action  in  very  con- 
crete instances,  as  when  he  does  not  grab  for 
food  when  he  comes  to  the  table.  He  may  also 
begin  to  associate  the  word  with  his  bread  and 
milk  or  some  other  article  of  food;  but  at  best 
he  can  gain  only  a  glimpse  of  the  meaning.  It 
will  be  many  years  before  he  can  be  said  really 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  165 

to  understand  the  full  meaning  of  *'good"  and 
especially  of  ** goodness.'* 

Learning  the  Meanings  of  Words  of  Supreme 
Importance. —  It  should  be  pointed  out  here  that 
the  most  important  task  for  the  child  in  his  in- 
tellectual development  is  to  acquire  accurately  the 
meanings  of  the  words  and  sentences  in  the  oral 
and  written  form  used  by  the  people  among 
whom  he  lives.  No  one  can  develop  mentally 
much  farther  than  he  can  learn  the  meanings  of 
words  and  sentences.  To  illustrate:  a  child  who 
could  not  learn  more  than  fifty  words  by  the  time 
he  is  three  years  of  age  would  be  arrested  in  his 
mental  development.  It  would  be  evidence  that 
his  brain  was  developing  too  slowly  or  that  there 
was  an  impediment  which  prevented  his  connect- 
ing words  with  the  objects  or  actions  or  qualities 
which  they  denote. 

Again,  if  a  child  could  not  learn  the  meanings 
of  words  which  do  not  denote  specific  concrete  ob- 
jects, actions  or  qualities,  as  say  *^  gentle  *'  or 
^^ugly*'  or  *^ helpful"  he  could  not  attain  a  high 
degree  of  mental  development.  In  order  to  learn 
words  which  are  not  directly  connected  with  con- 
crete things  it  is  required  that  the  individual 
should  be  able  to  construct  generalizations  of  his 
experiences  and  think  in  terms  of  these  general- 
izations. A  large  part  of  the  thinking  of  an 
intelligent  adult  is  carried  on  in  terms  of  general- 
izations  of  his   concrete   experiences.      To   con- 


166  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

struct  these  generalizations  requires  a  liigli  type 
of  intellectual  activity.  No  animal,  even  the  most 
intelligent,  can  do  it.  An  idiot  cannot  do  it. 
Morons — children  who  never  go  beyond  the  eighth 
or  ninth  year  in  intelligence — cannot  form  gen- 
eralizations except  those  of  a  very  low  degree  of 
complexity.  They  cannot  use  words  like  ^^  help- 
ful,'' ^* goodness"  or  ''compassion"  intelligently; 
and  though  they  should  live  to  be  a  hundred  years 
old  physically  they  could  never  make  such  gener- 
alizations or  think  in  terms  of  them. 

The  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that  most  of 
the  experiences  of  our  ancestors  in  solving  the 
problems  of  life  are  recorded  in  language;  those 
for  which  they  could  find  no  words  or  sentences 
have  not  been  perserved.  As  words  have  come 
down  through  the  generations  their  meanings  as 
well  as  their  forms  have  changed  according  as 
the  experiences  of  people  have  shown  that  modi- 
fications were  desirable.  The  word  ''virtue" 
does  not  have  precisely  the  meaning  to-day  that 
it  had  when  it  was  coined,  but  it  has  some  of  the 
meaning  which  those  who  first  used  it  ascribed 
to  it,  but  its  meaning  has  been  much  extended  and 
modified  as  it  has  been  used  by  succeeding  gener- 
ations; and  a  child  of  to-day  who  can  master  a 
large  vocabulary  in  all  its  detailed  meanings  will 
have  a  great  advantage  over  the  child  who  can 
master  only  a  limited  vocabulary.  For  this  rea- 
son  it   is   of   supreme   importance    that   parents 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  167 

should  do  every  reasonable  thing  to  help  their 
children  to  learn  the  meanings  of  words  ac- 
curately as  fast  as  possible. 

Helping  the  Child  to  Learn  Meanings. —  How 
can  the  child  be  helped  to  learn  meanings  !  There 
is  a  simple  psychological  law  upon  which  all  lan- 
guage learning  depends;  when  two  things  are  in 
an  individual's  mind  at  the  same  time  they  tend 
to  become  associated;  and  if  the  association  is 
repeated  they  become  definitely  connected  to- 
gether so  that  when  one  of  them  comes  into  the 
mind  the  other  will  appear  automatically.  The 
child  must  leam  all  his  words  according  to  this 
principle.  In  learning  what  *^ bottle''  means,  for 
instance,  he  must  hear  the  word  when  he  is  look- 
ing at  the  object  and  feeling  it  and  securing  his 
food  from  it.  The  mother  will  pronounce  the  word 
when  the  child  is  attending  to  the  bottle  or  eager 
to  get  it.  She  will  not  say — **Here  is  the  bottle," 
or  **Do  you  want  your  bottle?"  She  will  simply 
say  ^'bottle."  If  she  speaks  the  sentence  it  will 
as  a  whole  come  to  denote  the  object  ^^ bottle," 
and  later  the  child  will  experience  difficulty  be- 
cause he  will  continue  to  regard  ^^Do  you  want 
your  bottle!"  as  a  single  word.  The  same  prin- 
ciple holds  in  his  learning  the  meaning  of  all 
words  denoting  concrete  objects  or  actions  or 
qualities. 

Words  Must  he  Used,  Not  Simply  Heard. —  The 
child  cannot  learn  the  meanings  of  words  much 


168  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

if  any  more  rapidly  than  he  can  use  the  words 
accurately.  It  is  a  law  of  the  mind  that  under- 
standing and  use  go  together.  Nature  never  in- 
tended  that  a  child  should  lie  in  his  cradle  and 
learn  the  world.  He  learns  it  only  as  he  deals 
with  it.  In  the  same  way,  he  will  learn  words 
just  in  the  measure  that  he  can  use  them.  Nature 
has  made  a  very  direct  connection  between  hear- 
ing a  word  and  speaking  it.  If  the  center  in  the 
brain  which  controls  speech  should  be  destroyed 
one  could  not  hear  words  distinctly.  Hearing 
with  understanding  is  in  part  vocalization,  or 
some  form  of  expression.  If  there  is  no  expres- 
sion there  will  at  best  be  only  very  hazy  under- 
standing. The  parent  should  keep  this  principle 
constantly  in  mind  in  all  teaching,  and  especially 
in  the  teaching  of  words.  The  child  must  speak 
the  words  when  he  hears  them,  in  direct  con- 
nection with  the  things  which  they  denote. 

Young  Children  Get  Their  Cues  from  Facial 
Expression. —  Parents  often  think  their  children 
understand  words  very  much  more  fully  than 
they  can  speak  them.  A  mother  recently  said 
that  her  three-months-old  child  understood  such 
sentences  as  '^Here  comes  papa'^  and  ^^Do  you 
want  to  go  outdoors^*  and  ^^ Would  you  like  to 
have  your  bottle  T*  It  is  veiy  unlikely  that  a 
three-or  four-or  five-or  six-months-old  child  could 
grasp  the  meaning  of  sentences  like  those  given; 
but  the  mother  declared  that  her  three-months- 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  ISO 

old  child  showed  in  his  responses  that  he  knew 
what  the  sentences  meant.  It  is  more  probable 
that  he  understood  the  meaning  of  her  facial 
expression,  her  gesture,  and  her  intonation 
rather  than  the  sentences  she  used.  Whenever 
a  mother  says  ^' Would  you  like  to  go  out-doors  T' 
she  looks  in  the  direction  of  out-doors,  she  prob- 
ably has  the  child ^s  coat  in  her  hand,  and  the 
expression  of  her  countenance  indicates  some 
pleasurable  experience  for  the  child;  and  taking 
all  these  things  together  he  responds  enthusias- 
tically, showing  that  he  wants  something  from 
the  mother.  He  can  tell  from  the  mother's 
facial  expression  alone  that  she  has  some  agree- 
able plan  in  her  mind  for  him,  and  he  wants  her 
to  go  through  with  it.  That's  as  far  as  his  under- 
standing goes.  He  would  respond  in  the  same 
way  if  she  should  say  with  exactly  the  same 
facial  expression,  intonation,  and  other  expres- 
sional  accompaniments,  **  Would  you  like  to  have 
a  good  thrashing  r'  The  special  words  used 
would  have  no  meaning  for  the  child;  he  would 
rely  upon  the  expressional  accompaniments  of 
the  words.  Animals  do  this  very  largely.  A  dog 
takes  his  cue  from  the  expression  of  his  master's 
countenance  or  his  intonation  or  gesture  when  he 
does  not  understand  the  meaning  of  a  single  word 
used  by  the  master.  This  is  much  the  same  prin- 
ciple as  that  used  by  deaf  persons  in  watching  the 
lip  movement  and  the  expression  of  a  speaker. 


170  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

III 

Young  Children  Use  Single-Word  Sentences. — 
Parents  who  wish  to  teach  their  children  lan- 
guage often  speak  to  them  in  as  complex  sen- 
tences as  they  nse  in  speaking  to  adnlts.  It  is  a 
w^onder  that  a  child  learns  at  all  when  he  is  sub- 
jected to  such  treatment.  The  only  thing  that 
saves  him  is  that  accidentally  he  discovers  that 
certain  words  are  connected  with  particular  ob- 
jects. But  some  one  may  ask,  ^*  Since  a  child 
must  learn  sentences  sooner  or  later,  would  it  not 
be  best  for  him  to  hear  sentences  at  the  outset?" 
No,  it  would  not.  He  cannot  understand  sen- 
tences any  more  rapidly  than  he  acquires  power 
to  use  them,  and  he  never  employs  sentences 
until  after  he  has  nsed  single  words  for  some 
time.  During  the  first  year-and-a-half  or  so  he 
thinks  of  objects,  actions  and  qualities  as  a  whole 
and  single  words  are  adequate  to  express  the 
content  of  his  thinking.  He  does  not  say,  when 
his  pet  dog  comes  running  toward  him,  **Here 
comes  doggy."  He  says  simply,  ^^ Doggy."  He 
does  not  say,  ' '  I  wish  I  had  my  bottle ; "  he  says, 
** Bottle."  And  so  with  all  his  linguistic  expres- 
sion during  most  of  the  first  two  years. 

Just  as  he  gains  his  cues  respecting  the  atti- 
tude and  intentions  of  the  people  around  him 
from  their  facial  expression,  intonation,  gesture, 
etc.,  rather  than  from  the  words  they  use,  so  he 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  171 

conveys  his  attitude  and  intentions  to  others  prin- 
cipally by  gesture,  intonation,  facial  expression 
and  bodily  movements.  An  experienced  mother  can 
easily  tell  whether  her  six-months-old  child  wants 
to  have  her  take  him  in  her  arms,  even  though  he 
cannot  utter  a  sound  which  has  the  slightest 
resemblance  to  the  sentence,  ''Please  take  me 
up.''  In  the  same  way  the  mother  knows  when 
he  is  hungry  or  afraid,  or  when  he  wants  to  play, 
and  the  like,  from  his  physical  expression  and 
not  from  his  linguistic  expression.  Nature  has 
wisely  arranged  it  so  that  the  child  is  an  adept 
in  gesture,  intonation  and  facial  expression.  By 
means  of  these  expressional  accompaniments  he 
can  make  the  people  around  him  understand 
how  he  feels  and  what  he  wishes  when  he  could 
not  do  so  by  the  use  of  language  alone. 

Hoiv  Sentences  Are  Built  Up. —  It  should  be 
stressed  that  the  child's  sentences  are  at  the  out- 
set always  single  words.  Sometimes  parents  try 
to  induce  their  nine-  or  ten-months-old  children 
to  use  complete  sentences.  This  is  absurd  and  it 
may  be  injurious.  It  is  certain  that  the  child  of 
this  age  will  not  and  cannot  use  complete  sen- 
tences and  it  will  only  irritate  him  and  confuse 
him  to  urge  him  to  do  so.  By  the  time  he  is 
two-years-old  he  will  use  a  few  two-word  sen- 
tences as,  ''Doggy  jumps."  If  the  dog  jumps 
over  the  chair  the  child  will  designate  the  act  by 
gesture.      He    may    simply    use    the    one    word 


172  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

** doggy."  If  he  has  completed  his  second  year 
and  he  persists  in  the  use  of  his  single-word  sen- 
tences, amplifying  them  by  physical  expression, 
the  parent  can  help  him  to  move  forward  in  the 
mastery  of  the  sentence  by  adding  action  words, 
teaching  them  exactly  as  object  words  should  be 
taught.  Thus,  the  mother  will  have  the  dog  jump 
over  the  chair  and  use  *^ jumps"  when  the  child 
has  the  action  in  his  mind.  Then  she  will  speak 
the  sentence  *^ Doggy  jumps;"  and  with  the  nor- 
mal child  it  will  not  be  long  before  he  will  inte- 
grate the  word  *  ^  jumps '  *  with  the  word  ^  ^  doggy,  *  ^ 
and  use  the  sentence  ** doggy  jumps."  If  he  is 
arrested  in  his  development  he  will  make  this 
integration  very  slowly.  If  he  should  not  grow 
beyond  the  eighteenth  month  in  his  intelligence 
he  may  never  use  a  sentence  of  even  such  sim- 
plicity as  *^ Doggy  jumps,"  because  his  mind  will 
not  be  so  constituted  that  it  can  combine  into  a 
unity  an  object  and  its  acts  or  qualities. 

The  typical  parent  forgets  that  the  whole  busi- 
ness of  mastering  a  language  is  before  the  child, 
and  it  is  a  tremendous  task  for  him  to  connect 
two  words  together  properly  in  a  sentence.  His 
task  should  not  be  made  all  the  more  difficult  by 
the  parent  when  he  is  in  the  one-  or  two-word 
sentence  stage.  Of  course,  parents  may  use  com- 
plex sentences  in  their  conversation  with  one 
another,  but  this  will  not  be  confusing  to  the 
child  when  he  is  not  trying  to  learn.     Confusion 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  173 

arises  only  when  Ms  attention  is  turned  to  the 
use  of  language,  and  then  the  parent  employs  com- 
plex sentences  in  speaking  to  him  and  urges  him 
to  repeat  these  sentences. 

The  Use  of  Gesture^  etc.,  Should  he  Con- 
tinued.—  The  free  use  of  gesture  and  intonation 
should  be  continued  throughout  the  period  of 
childhood  and  youth.  There  is  evidently  a  very 
close  connection  between  facility  in  the  use  of 
language  and  facility  in  gesture,  intonation,  and 
facial  expression.  A  child  who  does  not  use  any 
of  the  latter  expressional  aids  will  develop  facil- 
ity in  language  very  slowly.  Sometimes  when 
children  begin  school  they  become  self-conscious 
and  unduly  restrained  in  the  employment  of  ges- 
ture, facial  expression  and  intonation,  and  they 
are  always  handicapped  in  the  acquisition  of 
language.  Sometimes  primary  schools  repress 
expressional  aids  and  when  this  is  the  case  young 
pupils  will  be  hindered  in  the  development  of 
language  facility.  On  the  other  hand,  a  child  who 
continues  to  rely  principally  upon  gesture, 
facial  expression,  and  intonation  will  be  handi- 
capped in  the  learning  of  language.  Unless  he 
feels  the  need  of  language  for  the  expression  of 
his  experiences  he  will  not  acquire  it.  It  would 
not  be  wise,  then,  for  the  parent  to  permit  a  three- 
or  four-year-old  child  to  depend  almost  wholly  in 
his  expression  upon  gesture,  intonation,  and 
facial  expression.    He  should  be  urged  to  express 


174  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

himself  in  language  in  order  to  secure  what  he 
desires. 

Children  Can  Learn  to  Speak  Only  hy  Speak- 
ing.—  One  often  sees  parents  who  hinder  their 
children  in  learning  language  because  they  will 
not  let  them  work  through  their  difficulties.  When 
a  young  child  attempts  to  say,  *^May  I  go  out  to 
playf  the  mother  may  take  the  words  out  of 
his  mouth  and  say  them  for  him,  so  that  all  he  is 
required  to  do  is  to  nod  his  head,  or  say  **yes." 
Some  parents  cannot  bear  to  hear  their  children 
struggling  to  express  themselves,  nor  are  they 
patient  enough  to  let  them  straighten  out  sen- 
tences when  they  try  to  use  them.  It  is  deadly 
in  the  development  of  language  facility  for 
parents  to  do  the  talking  for  their  children,  or 
express  impatience  when  the  children  hesitate  and 
stumble  in  the  use  of  sentences.  It  is  certain  that 
most  children  cannot  learn  to  use  sentences  with- 
out a  good  deal  of  strain  and  stress.  They  will  get 
tangled  up  whenever  they  attempt  to  use  a  new 
sentence  or  one  more  complicated  than  they  have 
been  using.  What  the  parent  should  do  is  at  the 
right  moment  to  suggest  how  the  sentence  can  be 
straightened  out,  but  the  child  should  never  be 
permitted  to  abandon  it  without  using  it  prop- 
erly. He  cannot  learn  to  speak  except  by  speak- 
ing, and  this  is  peculiarly  true  in  respect  to  the 
use  of  sentences.  One  j5nds  pupils  in  schools  and 
even  in  colleges  who  can  hardly  use  a  complex 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  175 

sentence.  They  avoid  difficulties,  abridging  sen- 
tences and  adopting  shortcuts  whenever  possible. 
One  reason  they  lack  ease  and  facility  in  the  use 
of  language  suited  to  their  needs  is  because  in 
their  earlier  years  sentences  were  taken  out  of 
their  mouths  when  they  were  trying  to  construct 
them 

IV 

If  Is  an  Exceedingly  Difficult  Task  to  Master 
Languages. —  Any  one  will  appreciate  the  prob- 
lems which  the  child  must  solve  in  mastering  our 
language  if  he  will  observe  him  struggling  even 
to  pronounce  a  single  word,  let  alone  construct  an 
entire  sentence.  Take  a  child  of  eighteen  months 
trying  to  use  a  word  like  ** beef-steak''  for  in- 
stance. In  order  to  accomplish  the  task  he  must 
be  able  to  recall  the  word  when  he  sees  the  ob- 
ject, or  if  he  does  not  see  the  object  before  him 
he  must  be  able  to  image  it  in  fancy  and  then  ta 
recall  the  word  denoting  it,  and  finally  to  execute 
the  vocal  movements  required  to  speak  it.  Now, 
this  is  a  very  complicated  process,  though  it  may 
seem  simple  to  one  who  has  completely  mastered 
it.  If  a  dog  should  do  a  thing  like  this  we  would 
marvel  at  it  and  justly  so,  but  we  take  it  as  a 
matter  of  course  that  a  child  should  be  able  to  do 
it.  It  is  not  surprising  that  he  has  to  struggle 
with  it  until  he  has  accomplished  it  several  hun- 
dred times.     "V^^ile  he  is  learning  he  may  have 


176  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

to  cease  his  other  activities  when  he  tries  to  make 
the  connection  between  the  object,  the  word  and 
its  vocal  expression.  A  child  will  often  stop  in 
his  tracks  when  he  is  endeavoring  to  recall  the 
name  of  an  object  or  to  pronounce  it  if  he  has  a 
dim  idea  of  it.  Frequently  he  will  not  succeed  in 
his  efforts  to  give  the  name  of  an  object  even 
though  at  other  times  he  may  be  able  to  do  it. 
This  means  that  the  paths  of  connection  in  the 
brain  between  an  object  and  the  word  that  de- 
notes it  are  not  well  enough  established  so  they 
can  always  be  followed. 

Under  certain  conditions  even  an  adult  cannot 
think  of  words  or  sentences  to  express  his  ideas. 
Some  readers  of  these  lines  may  have  the  experi- 
ence that  when  they  are  much  fatigued  they  can- 
not find  words  to  express  themselves  and  they 
get  tangled  up  in  their  sentences.  Also,  when 
they  are  overtaxed  they  cannot  interpret  what 
they  read  so  that  words  and  sentences  may  ap- 
pear blank  to  them.  In  such  cases  the  connec- 
tions between  words  or  sentences  and  ideas  have 
become  temporarily  disturbed.  If  a  person  should 
be  nervously  prostrated  and  remain  in  that  con- 
dition he  might  permanently  lose  his  ability  to 
use  appropriate  words  and  sentences  for  the  ex- 
pression of  ideas.  At  the  onset  of  old  age  when 
the  vitality  of  the  brain  begins  to  decline,  words 
and  sentences  may  be  forgotten  and  it  may  be 
impossible  to  interpret  langiiage  seen  or  heard. 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  177 

In  the  end,  the  individual  may  be  brought  back  to 
the  condition  of  infancy  in  which  there  is  no  con- 
nection between  ideas  and  the  words  and  sen- 
tences which  denote  them. 

Whiskey  and  other  alcoholic  drinks  will  dis- 
turb the  connections  between  ideas  and  words 
and  sentences  so  that  when  a  man  is  drunk  he 
cannot  express  himself  as  readily  or  as  accu- 
rately as  when  he  is  sober.  Other  drugs  that  act 
directly  upon  the  nervous  system  disturb  the 
connections  that  have  been  built  up  through  years 
of  association  of  ideas  and  language. 

The  Child  Meets  His  Chief  Difficulties  in  Gram- 
matical Relations. —  The  difficulties  of  construct- 
ing sentences  are  greatly  increased  by  the  lack 
of  uniformity  in  the  methods  of  construction. 
There  are  almost  as  many  exceptions  to  any  rule 
of  grammatical  relation  in  English  as  there  are. 
instances  conforming  to  the  rule.  Young  chil- 
dren use  expressions  like  the  following:  I  seed. 
I  runned.  I  are.  I  is.  My  feels  bad.  My  wants 
this.  Here  comes  the  boys.  Three  oxes.  Four 
mouses.  Two  knifes.  I  have  a  lot  of  chicken 
poxes.  Us  is  going  out-doors.  I  have  been 
teached.  I  speaked  to  him.  I  deaded  him  (killed 
a  fly).  I  failed  down  stairs.  I  gaved  it  to  him. 
I  sided  it.  I  growed  last  night.  Neither  I  nor 
Jim  ivere  there.  Look  at  the  lady  parasolling 
(waving  her  parasol  in  the  air).  I  wish  I  could 
go  horsehacking.    My  apple  is  gooder  than  yours. 


178  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

That  dog  is  awfuller  than  the  other  one.  Me  fall 
down  stairs — no.  I  drinked  ont  of  jar — yes.  And 
so  on  ad  libitum.  In  all  these  cases  the  child 
follows  some  plan  he  has  followed  generally  in 
his  speech.  He  is  accustomed  to  use  forms  like 
**I  spanked/'  *'I  laughed/'  ^^1  cried/'  etc.,  and 
then  he  constructs  all  his  verbs  on  this  plan,  as 
*^I  runned/'  ^^1  seed/'  '^1  huyed/'  etc. 

He  is  confused  by  the  variety  of  pronouns,  7, 
my,  me,  tve,  our,  us^  and  so  on.  In  a  logically 
constructed  language  there  would  not  be  so  many 
forms.  There  would  be  one  form  in  the  singular 
and  one  in  the  plural  for  each  of  the  persons. 
The  child  endeavors  to  follow  some  such  a  plan  in 
his  speech,  but  in  English  there  are  so  many 
irregularities  that  no  logical  plan  can  be  fol- 
lowed. The  more  logical-minded  a  child  is  the 
harder  time  he  may  have  with  the  irregularities 
of  English.  This  is  true  not  only  in  respect  to 
grammar  but  it  is  equally  true  in  respect  to  pro- 
nunciation and  spelling.  The  child  learns,  for 
instance,  that  t-h-o-u-g-h  is  pronounced  tho. 
Then  when  he  comes  to  t-Ji-r-o-u-g-h  he  tries  to 
make  it  thro,  and  s-l-o-u-g-h,  slo,  r-o-u-g-h,  ro, 
and  so  on.  There  are  innumerable  difficulties  of 
this  sort  in  English,  which  is  one  reason  why  a 
child  makes  so  many  blunders  in  grammar,  in 
pronunciation,  and  in  spelling. 

There  is  no  way  the  child  can  correct  most  of 
his  grammatical  errors  except  by  imitating  cor- 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  179 

rect  forms  which  he  hears  used  around  him.  He 
cannot  be  taught  in  grammatical  terms  why  he 
should  say  ^'I  ran''  instead  of  ^^I  runned/' 
When  he  uses  the  wrong  form  the  parent  must 
simply  give  him  the  right  form  without  comment, 
or  merely  say,  ^^ People  speak  in  this  way,"  and 
have  him  repeat  it.  When  he  reaches  the  sixth 
or  seventh  grade  in  school  he  will  learn  why  one 
form  should  be  used  instead  of  another,  but  it 
will  only  confuse  him  to  talk  about  reasons  when 
he  is  three  or  four  or  five  years  of  age.  The 
same  is  true  of  his  pronunciation  and  his  spelling. 
Certainly  every  parent  should  appreciate  the 
necessity  of  being  patient  with  the  child  in  cor- 
recting his  linguistic  errors.  It  should  also  be 
appreciated  that  there  is  no  way  by  which  the 
child  can  learn  correct  forms  except  by  ceaseless 
repetition  of  them  until  they  become  automatic. 
So  far  as  possible,  wrong  forms  should  not  be 
used  because  if  they  become  established  it  will  be 
difficult  to  eliminate  them.  One  sees  adults  who 
have  formed  bad  habits  of  speech  in  respect  to 
grammar  and  pronunciation,  and  though  they 
may  know  better  they  gannot  do  any  better.  Their 
old  habits  persist  in  the  face  of  knowledge  to  the 
contrary.  It  cannot  be  too  much  emphasized  that 
pronunciation  and  grammatical  usage  are  very 
largely  matters  of  imitation.  They  cannot  be 
learned  by  rule,  in  the  early  years  at  any  rate. 
So  the  parent  must  strive  to  have  the  child  hear 


180  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

correct  models.     If  lie  does,  he  need  not  worry- 
about  the  child  ^s  learning  to  speak  correctly. 


Individual  Differences  in  Learning  Language. 
—  Finally,  it  should  be  mentioned  that  children 
differ  in  the  ease  and  facility  with  which  they 
learn  language  in  all  its  aspects.  Speaking  gen- 
erally, the  child  who  masters  language  most 
rapidly  is  the  most  intelligent;  the  child  who 
progresses  most  slowly  in  language  is  the  least 
intelligent.  Occasionally  one  sees  exceptions  to 
this  rule,  for  there  are  individuals  who  are  never 
proficient  in  language  but  they  are  excellent  in 
mathematical  or  scientific  lines.  In  colleges  and 
universities  one  sees  students  who  have  great 
trouble  in  their  classes  in  English  or  in  foreign 
language,  but  who  are  superior  in  physics,  mathe- 
matics, chemistry  or  any  science.  This  is  not 
the  rule,  by  any  means,  but  cases  are  occasionally 
found.  A  concrete  instance  vfill  illustrate  the 
principle. 

Leo  is  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  is  backward 
in  some  of  his  school  work,  especially  in  gram- 
mar, spelling,  history,  and  composition.  He  is 
always  deficient  in  learning  rules  in  any  study. 
He  is  able  to  solve  actual  problems  in  arithmetic 
very  well;  but  he  fails  right  along  in  learning 
the  rules  so  that  he  can  recite  them  according  to 

I 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  181 

the  book.  He  lias  great  difficulty  in  learning 
words,  though  he  can  learn  things  and  can  deal 
with  them  effectively. 

Modern  studies  in  human  nature  have  given  us 
principles  which  help  to  explain  this  type.  There 
are  distinct  parts  of  the  brain  which  are  concerned 
with  retaining  impressions  of  words.  There  are 
four  of  these  *^ areas"  or  *' centers."  One  area 
is  concerned  with  retaining  words  that  are  seen.^ 
If  a  person  should  receive  an  injury  in  this  part 
of  the  brain,  he  would  lose  the  power  to  read, 
though  his  eyes  might  be  in  perfect  condition; 
he  might  hear  words  when  spoken  to  him,  and  he 
might  be  able  to  write  them.  Another  area  is 
concerned  with  retaining  words  which  are  heard. 
If  a  disease  or  accident  should  destroy  this  area, 
one  would  be  mentally  deaf,  even  though  the  ear 
might  be  in  a  sound  condition.  Again,  there  is 
a  particular  area  that  has  to  do  with  words  that 
are  written.  Some  people  have  the  disease  known 
as  ^^ agraphia,"  inability  to  write  words,  though 
they  may  have  perfect  control  of  their  hands  and 
fingers  in  other  ways,  and  they  may  be  able  to 
read  and  to  understand  words  that  they  hear. 
Finally,  there  is  an  area  which  is  concerned  with 
speech.  When  this  area  is  destroyed,  a  person 
has  ** aphasia,"  though  the  vocal  apparatus  may 
be  unimpaired. 

Now,  some  individuals  appear  to  be  so  consti- 
tuted that  these  language  areas  develop  less  rap- 


182  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

idly  and  completely  than  is  the  case  with  other 
individuals.  Leo  acquired  speech  very  slowly.  He 
could  not  speak  plainly  when  he  was  five  years  of 
age.  He  is  left-handed,  and  it  appears  to  be  the 
rule  that  left-handed  persons  acquire  language, 
at  least  speech,  more  slowly  than  right-handed 
individuals.  The  brain  area  controlling  speech 
adjoins  the  area  controlling  the  right  hand,  and 
when  the  right  hand  is  used  especially,  it  seems 
to  exert  a  beneficial  influence  upon  the  speech 
area. 

Leo  cannot  pronounce  words  as  accurately  and 
readily  as  his  brother.  And  what  is  more  serious, 
he  has  difficulty  in  remembering  them  once  he  has 
learned  them.  He  cannot  find  words  readily  to 
describe  his  experiences.  When  he  is  discussing 
a  lively  subject  with  a  group  of  boys,  Leo^s  voice 
will  be  heard  less  frequently  than  the  others, 
simply  because  the  talk  moves  too  swiftly  for 
him.  You  can  hear  him  often  call  out  to  the 
group:  ^'Listen,  listen,''  so  that  he  can  have  a 
chance  to  get  started,  whereas  his  younger 
brother,  who  may  be  in  the  group,  can  strike  in 
the  instant  there  is  an  opening.  The  latter 
always  has  his  words  at  his  tongue's  end,  while 
Leo  has  to  hunt  around  in  his  consciousness  for 
his  words,  and  it  takes  him  longer  to  construct  a 
sentence  than  it  does  most  of  his  associates. 

Leo  will  not  be  distinguished  in  any  situation 
in  which  the  ready  and  accurate  use  of  words 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  183 

is  the  essential  thing.  To  illustrate :  He  may  go 
with  his  father  on  a  trip  to  a  near-by  city.  When 
he  comes  back,  he  tells  the  family  what  he  has  done 
and  what  he  has  observed.  But  he  has  to  appeal 
to  his  father  frequently  for  the  terms  to  describe 
new  objects  and  experiences.  He  will  frequently 
say,  ^^that  thing  that  we  saw,  you  remember,"  or 
**that  place  over  there  we  visited,"  or  ^^that 
store,  I  forgot  the  name,  in  which  we  made  pur- 
chases," and  so  on.  His  younger  brother,  on  the 
other  hand,  does  not  employ  these  general, 
indefinite  terms.  He  uses  the  exact  terms  neces- 
sary to  name  the  objects  he  has  observed,  the 
stores  he  has  visited,  and  the  happenings  that 
have  occurred.  One  can  see  why  Leo  has  such 
a  hard  time  in  much  of  the  work  of  the  school, 
and  why  his  younger  brother  is  pushing  ahead 
of  him. 

Both  the  boys  have  this  year  taken  up  the 
study  of  a  foreign  language, — French.  The 
younger  one  learns  his  lessons  in  a  few  minutes, 
and  he  seems  to  enjoy  this  subject.  He  fre- 
quently uses  French  in  sentences  around  the 
house.  The  older  boy  spends  twice  as  much 
time  over  his  lessons  as  the  younger  one,  and 
even  then  he  does  not  master  them  thorosughly. 
He  rarely  uses  a  French  phrase  outside  of  the 
classroom.  He  is  timid  about  attempting  anything 
in  French.  He  lacks  self-confidence.  He  also 
lacks    interest    in    trying    to    master    and    espe- 


184  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

cially  to  use  the  new  language.  The  thing  does 
not  appeal  to  him,  partly  because  he  knows  he 
can  never  become  proficient  in  it. 

But  while  Leo  is  behind  his  brother  in 
language,  he  is  ahead  of  him  in  music.  He  can 
play  one  musical  instrument  very  well,  and  he 
never  has  to  be  urged  to  apply  himself  to  his 
practice.  Playing  an  instrument  gives  him  some- 
thing to  dOy  and  he  is  the  doing  type,  while  his 
brother  is  the  learning  type.  Unless  Leo  can 
devote  himself  largely  to  concrete  studies  involv- 
ing doing  of  some  kind  he  will  never  reach  col- 
lege. If  he  should  be  required  to  continue  his 
French  throughout  the  high  school  and  in  addi- 
tion take  up  Latin  and  history  and  literature  he 
would  be  very  apt  to  fail.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
he  should  elect  manual  arts,  science,  especially 
if  it  should  be  outdoor  science, — agriculture  or 
engineering, — ^he  would  probably  make  good,  espe- 
cially if  his  teachers  would  allow  him  to  phrase 
principles  and  rules  in  his  own  way.  But  if  they 
should  compel  him  to  recite  the  rules  exactly  as 
they  are  given  in  his  books,  he  would  have  trouble 
all  the  way  through. 

It  should  be  noted  that  Leo  is  not  deficient  in 
memory  of  every  kind.  He  can  remember  better 
than  most  boys  of  his  age  people  whom  he  has 
met,  or  any  machinery  he  has  handled,  or 
any  game  he  has  ever  played.  His  mother  can 
send  him  into  the  city  to  do  errands  and  he  will 


LANGUAGE  TRAINING  185 

not  forget  a  single  detail.  His  parents  say  he 
never  forgets  to  pick  up  his  belongings  in  his 
room  when  he  is  leaving  it.  He  never  forgets  to 
change  his  clothes  on  wash-day  and  deliver  the 
soiled  garments  to  the  laundress.  His  younger 
brother,  however,  has  an  ^^ atrocious  memory'* 
for  these  things,  according  to  his  mother.  He 
leaves  every  article  of  clothing  where  it  happens 
to  drop  in  his  room.  His  mother  always  has  to 
remind  him  to  change  his  clothes  on  wash-day. 
Leo  has  a  much  better  memory  than  his  brother 
for  every-day  matters,  though  it  is  the  other  way 
'round  for  the  things  of  the  schoolroom. 


CHAPTEE  VI 
FIRST  STEPS  IN  TRAINING  DISPOSITION 


When  Temperament  Is  Formed. —  By  the  time 
a  child  completes  his  third  year  he  has  learned 
his  cues  relating  to  the  attitudes  he  should 
assume  toward  people  about  him.  He  has  made 
up  his  mind,  such  mind  as  he  has,  whether  he 
will  rule  those  about  him  or  whether  he  must 
conform  to  regulations  made  by  others, — his 
parents,  his  brothers  and  sisters,  and  his  neigh- 
bors. Of  course,  he  has  not  reflected  on  the 
matter  of  domination  or  obedience;  he  is  not 
aware  that  he  is  either  seeking  to  bend  people  to 
his  wishes  or  that  he  is  adapting  himself  to  their 
programs.  Nevertheless  he  has  established  social 
attitudes  by  his  third  birthday  which  are  likely 
to  last  him  without  fundamental  modification 
throughout  childhood  and  often  into  youth,  and 
possibly  even  until  the  end  of  his  days.  If  his 
early  habits  are  eradicated  after  his  third  birth- 
day it  will  be  only  with  much  strain  and  stress 
and  discomfort  for  himself  and  for  those  who 
train  him. 

186 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  187 

Nervous  Stability. —  The  chief  thing  a  baby- 
should  acquire  and  maintain  during  his  first  three 
years  is  nervous  stability.  An  erratic  disposition 
is  due  more  to  nervous  overstrain  and  irregu- 
larity than  to  any  other  one  factor.  Take  a 
child  who  during  the  first  three  years  is  tossed 
around  by  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry ;  who  is  treated 
as  a  toy  by  his  parents,  his  brothers  and  sisters, 
and  the  neighbors;  who  is  constantly  stimulated 
through  eye,  ear,  and  skin,  and  what  are  the 
chances  that  he  will  have  an  amiable  disposition 
throughout  the  period  of  childhood  and  youth? 
The  chances  are  slight.  With  a  hundred  children 
chosen  at  random  who  are  treated  in  the  manner 
described,  the  probabilities  are  that  from  seventy- 
five  to  eighty-five  of  them  will  be  irritable,  will 
be  subject  to  fits  of  intense  anger,  will  not  sleep 
sweetly  and  soundly,  will  be  finicky  about  food, 
and  will  move  heaven  and  earth  to  gain  their 
own  way. 

There  is  apt  to  be  too  much  excitement  for 
children  in  modern  town  and  city  life  anyway, 
even  when  parents  try  to  protect  them  from 
undue  stimulation.  There  is  so  much  noise  and 
movement  and  rush  ever^^vhere  that  it  is  not 
easy  to  keep  the  young  from  being  affected  by 
it.  The  child's  nervous  system  was  not  planned 
for  such  incessant  bombardment  as  it  often  is 
subjected  to  through  eye,  ear  and  skin.  Com- 
pared with  us,  our  remote  ancestors  lived  quietly 


188  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

in  the  forest,  or  in  the  cave,  or  by  the  seashore. 
The  child  is  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  reminis- 
cent of  the  earlier  times  and  we  should  bring 
him  by  slow  degrees  into  contact  with  the  full 
tide  of  life  in  these  days. 

The  Manner  of  Holding  an  Infant. —  The  man- 
ner of  holding  an  infant  exerts  some  influence 
upon  his  nervous  stability.  A  four-months-old 
child  can  often  distinguish  in  the  dark  between 
the  arms  of  his  mother  and  the  arms  of  a 
stranger.  He  is  very  sensitive  to  the  position 
and  feel  of  the  supporting  arms  when  he  is  being- 
carried  about.  It  would  be  fortunate  if  every 
child  could  be  held  in  a  strong,  calm,  quiet  man- 
ner. An  excitable,  nervous  parent,  or  brother,  or 
sister,  or  aunt,  or  uncle,  or  grandmother,  or  neigh- 
bor should  not  be  permitted  to  hold  a  child.  Some 
reader  may  ask,  ^*Who  will  hold  him  then,  since 
in  some  households  there  are  no  other  sorts  of 
persons!''  In  such  a  case  it  would  be  best  to 
leave  the  child  in  his  cradle  most  of  the  time 
until  he  reaches  the  stage  when  he  can  begin  to 
wiggle  along  the  floor. 

It  is,  of  course,  too  much  to  expect  that 
nervous,  high-strung,  ill-poised  persons  will  not 
take  young  children  in  their  arms;  but  if  they 
do  hold  them  they  can  at  least  avoid  dancing 
them  up  and  down  and  throwing  them  hither  and 
thither  in  order  to  amuse  them  or  subdue  them 
when  they  squall.    It  makes  one  sick  at  heart  to 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  180 

obser\^e  excitable  persons  nervously  shaking 
children  in  order  to  quiet  them  when  they  are 
restless.  If  some  children  were  not  well  put 
together  they  would  be  jarred  to  pieces  by 
fidgety  care-takers.  The  principle  upon  which 
such  persons  proceed  seems  to  be  that  if  they 
can  stir  up  a  child's  insides  sufficiently  they  can 
distract  his  attention  from  the  troubles  that 
make  him  cry;  but  they  forget  that  the  time 
will  come,  and  speedily,  too,  when  these  troubles 
will  be  augmented  on  account  of  the  disturbances 
occasioned  by  violent  bodily  agitation. 

Why  is  it  that  caretakers  so  rarely  try  to 
discover  the  cause  of  a  child's  restlessness  and 
peevishness,  and  then  seek  to  remove  the  cause? 
It  would  be  as  sensible  to  give  a  person  suffering 
from  toothache  an  anesthetic  so  that  he  would 
not  be  conscious  of  the  pain,  and  not  try  to 
remedy  the  cause  of  it  as  to  agitate  a  crying 
child  in  order  to  subdue  him.  This  does  not 
mean  that  a  discontented  child  should  not  be 
comforted  by  swinging  in  one's  arms  or  in  the 
cradle  or  by  song.  An  infant  who  has  become 
irritated  can  often  regain  his  composure  if  he  be 
gently  held  or  rocked  in  strong  arms.  A  quiet, 
sympathetic  voice  expressed  in  song  will  soothe 
a  restless  child.  What  is  needed  is  quiet  and  not 
nervous,  exciting,  and  stimulating  treatment. 

Strangers  Should  Let  Children  Alone. —  A 
wise  parent  will  not  permit  strangers  to  pick  up 


190  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

a  child  when  they  come  into  the  house.  Strangers 
should  let  children  alone.  Ninety  out  of  a  hun- 
dred children  are  timid  and  suffer  a  nervous 
shock  when  strangers  approach  them  and  take 
them  up.  In  time  they  will  grow  out  of  this 
native  dread  of  strangers,  but  while  they  are  in 
this  period  they  must  be  protected.  They  must 
not  even  be  talked  to  by  strangers.  Those  who 
come  into  the  house  must  talk  to  the  parents  and 
the  older  children  and  let  the  younger  ones  look 
on  and  listen  or  go  their  own  way.  In  time  a 
child  will  appreciate  that  he  will  suffer  no  harm 
if  he  fraternizes  with  strangers;  but  he  will 
reach  this  stage  most  quickly  and  satisfactorily 
if  he  and  not  the  stranger  makes  the  advances. 
It  should  be  an  irrevocable  law  in  every  house- 
hold in  which  there  is  a  very  young  child  that 
visitors  must  not  touch  him  unless  the  child 
solicits  attention.  Of  course,  the  best  arrange- 
ment would  be  for  the  infant  to  be  in  a  room  of 
his  own  when  visitors  are  at  the  house ;  but  if  he 
must  be  present  with  them,  he  must  be  ignored 
by  them.  The  common  failing  of  a  parent  in 
showing  off  a  baby  to  all  the  visitors  who 
come  into  the  house  is  one  good  way  to  spoil  his 
disposition,  mainly  through  over-stimulating  him 
and  developing  nervous  irregularity  and  in- 
stability. 

Rhythm    in    Habits. —  During    the    first    three 
years,  and  longer  for  that  matter,  a  child  should 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  191 

be  regular  in  his  habits.  Nature  has  apparently 
designed  that  a  child's  mind  and  body  should 
operate  on  a  rhythmical  program.  He  should 
have  his  food  at  regular  hours,  go  to  sleep  at 
regular  times,  awaken  at  regular  times,  aed  spend 
certain  hours  regularly  in  the  open  air  and  in 
play.  If  regularity  be  observed  during  the  first 
three  years  the  child  will  almost  automatically 
observe  this  regularity  in  succeeding  years  unless 
the  conditions  in  the  household  prevent  it.  A 
well-trained  child  of  four  or  five  will  awaken  at 
a  certain  hour  every  morning  and  he  will  follow 
the  day's  program  without  much  protest.  When 
a  child's  nervous  system  develops  such  regu- 
larity he  is  not  likely  to  fly  off  the  handle  on 
slight  pretext,  though  of  course  all  young  chil- 
dren are  easily  upset  and  go  to  extremes  in  their 
expression  of  resentment  and  anger.  But  regu- 
larity in  habits  will  subdue  these  excesses  while 
irregularity  w^ill  tend  to  accentuate  and  perpetu- 
ate them. 

The  Treatment  of  Crying. —  Lack  of  self-con- 
trol is  manifested  principally  during  the  early 
years  in  immoderate  crying.  Nature  equips  the 
child  with  a  crying  apparatus  which  is  set  going 
on  very  slight  provocation.  If  a  mother  is  too 
sensitive  to  a  child's  crying  and  is  too  eager  to 
help  him  when  he  squalls  or  to  suppress  him, 
she  will  be  likely  to  spoil  him.  Some  at  least  of 
a  typical  child's  crying  must  be  ignored.     The 


192  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

reader  should  not  hasten  to  the  conclusion  that 
caretakers  should  be  indifferent  to  all  of  a  child's 
complaints;  this  is  not  the  case.  A  practiced 
ear  can  tell  whether  a  child  is  suffering  pain 
when  he  is  crying,  whether  he  is  afraid,  or 
whether  he  is  simply  trying  to  coerce  the  people 
around  him  into  serving  him.  If  he  is  suffering 
pain  or  is  afraid  he  must  be  relieved  if  possible. 
But  if  he  is  angry  because  those  about  him  mil 
not  toady  to  him,  then  he  must  be  ignored.  If 
it  is  time  for  him  to  take  his  nap  and  he  pro- 
tests, his  protestations  must  fall  upon  deaf  ears. 
He  will  not  long  continue  to  resist  or  lament 
when  he  discovers  that  there  is  a  certain  invari- 
able order  in  the  day's  program  which  he  cannot 
change  by  complaining. 

It  has  never  yet  been  recorded  that  anyone 
has  been  able  to  prevent  all  crying  by  a  normal 
child.  Aristotle  said  long  ago  that  even  if  we 
could  prevent  it  we  should  not  do  so  because 
the  child's  lungs  are  developed  in  part  through 
the  exercise  they  receive  when  he  cries.  Later 
writers  on  childhood  have  called  attention  to 
what  appears  to  be  a  fact, — that  a  moderate 
amount  of  crying  facilitates  circulation  and  is 
of  some  advantage  in  physical  development. 
These  views  are  mentioned  in  passing  in  the 
hope  that  they  may  help  a  mother  or  other  care- 
taker, who  is  inclined  to  be  easily  upset  by  a 
child's  crying,to  retain  self-possession  and  a  phil- 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  193 

osopliic    attitude   when    lie    squalls    ^\nthout    any 
reason  for  it  so  far  as  can  be  observed. 

Neighbors  Should  Not  Interfere. —  Often  neigh- 
bors make  it  difficult  for  a  mother  to  train  her 
child  so  that  he  will  not  attempt  to  bully  her 
into  gratifying  his  whims.  Of  course,  they  are 
not  whims  to  him,  but  this  is  what  they  would 
amount  to  if  they  should  be  indulged  always,  be- 
cause they  would  develop  habits  which  would 
keep  him  in  hot  water  much  of  the  time  in  later 
years.  Neighbors  do  not  like  to  hear  children 
ciy.  If  a  mother  puts  her  child  out  on  the  porch 
in  his  carriage  for  his  nap  and  he  lets  it  be 
known  that  he  would  rather  be  wheeled  or  car- 
ried around,  some  of  the  neighbors  are  likely  to 
make  it  plain  to  the  mother  that  they  would 
rather  she  should  take  him  in  the  house  or  quiet 
him  in  some  manner.  In  cases  like  this  a  mother 
must  consider  whether  she  would  rather  spoil 
her  child  and  keep  the  regard  of  the  neighbors 
or  the  other  way  around,  provided  the  neighbors 
are  unreasonable  in  their  attitude  toward  the 
training  of  children.  Usually  a  mother  can 
make  a  distressed  neighbor  appreciate  that  it 
will  not  take  long  far  a  child  to  learn  that  when 
he  is  put  out  on  the  porch  to  take  a  nap  he  must 
go  through  with  the  business  and  i.t  will  not  do 
the  least  bit  of  good  for  him  to  yell  about  it. 
He  must  be  a  very  inconsiderate  neighbor  indeed 
who  would  not  help  a  mother  to  train  her  child 


194  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

in  this  manner.  It  can  be  represented  to  the 
neighbor  that  if  he  remains  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  he  will  have  to  live  with  the  child  in 
later  years,  and  he  had  better  stand  a  little  cry- 
ing now  than  a  lot  of  it  together  with  other 
disagreeable  traits  later  on. 

II 

Habits  Cannot  Be  Broken  Suddenly, —  Suppose 
a  child  has  been  indulged  during  his  first  eighteen 
months  and  then  the  mother  decides  that  he  must 
be  trained.  She  has  always  run  to  him  when  he 
cried  and  tossed  him  about  to  subdue  him,  but 
she  reads  this  chapter  and  she  makes  up  her 
mind  that  she  will  change  her  methods  instantly 
and  will  let  her  child  '^cry  it  out^^  hereafter. 
Sudden  changes  in  methods  of  training  never 
work  out  well.  One  cannot  break  a  child's 
habits  in  an  hour  or  a  day.  If  a  child  has  come 
to  expect  that  when  he  is  put  in  his  carriage  to 
take  a  nap  he  will  be  taken  up  and  fussed  with 
if  he  cries,  then  a  mother  must  go  slow  in  devel- 
oping a  different  sort  of  expectation  in  him.  She 
will  have  to  work  out  her  new  program  very 
gradually.  A  child  who  has  developed  certain 
habits  is  likely  to  be  injured  if  an  attempt  is 
made  to  break  them  at  one  stroke. 

The  usual  method  of  those  who  treat  children 
in  an  ill-poised,  nervous  way  in  trying  to  subdue 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  195 

them  is  to  slap  them.  This  is  a  simple  and  handy 
way  of  expressing  one's  irritation.  But  no  better 
means  than  this  could  be  devised  to  increase  the' 
child's  nervous  instability  and  his  irrascibility. 
Slapping  is  a  nervous  excitant  and  irritant.  It 
may  distract  a  child's  attention  momentarily  and 
inhibit  his  yelling,  but  there  will  be  a  day  of 
reckoning  when  the  nervous  shock  produced  by 
the  slapping  will  lead  to  greater  excesses  either 
in  crying  or  in  some  other  form  of  irregularity 
or  misdemeanor.  If  a  child  must  be  punished, 
some  stronger  and  calmer  and  more  impressive 
method  should  be  found  than  slapping  him. 

Gentle  Measures  in  Training  Disposition. — 
About  iive  hundred  men  and  women  represent- 
ing all  sections  of  the  country  have  recently 
given  testimony  regarding  the  extent  to  which 
force  is  being  employed  to-day  in  the  training 
of  the  young  in  their  respective  localities.  The 
results  of  this  inquiry  indicate  clearly  that 
physical  punishment  in  every  form  is  being 
abandoned.  In  some  communities  boards  of 
education  have  established  rules  prohibiting 
teachers  from  using  corporal  punishment  for  any 
effence  whatsoever.  In  other  communities  in 
which  no  such  laws  have  been  enacted,  public 
opinion  is  nevertheless  so  strong  against  the  use 
of  physical  force  that  it  is  rarely  if  ever 
employed.  The  testimony  of  one  superintendent 
,of  schools  in  a  city  of  about  fifty  thousand  people 


196  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

is  similar  in  main  features  to  that  given  by 
others.    He  says: 

^'I  have  been  in  this  city  for  twenty  years. 
When  I  began  my  work  here  teachers  used  to 
punish  pupils  freely  by  whipping  them  or 
paddling  the  hands.  Often  they  would  cuff  them 
or  perhaps  pull  their  ears.  All  that  is  past. 
There  has  not  been  a  teacher  in  this  city  who 
has  struck  a  child  with  a  whip  or  a  ferrule  or 
with  his  hands  for  at  least  three  years.  I  do 
not  know  what  would  happen  if  a  teacher  should 
whip  a  child  now.  The  board  of  education  has 
made  no  definite  rule  against  it,  but  I  think  a 
teacher  who  would  use  corporal  punishment  on 
a  child  would  be  removed  from  her  position." 

There  are  a  number  of  towns  and  cities  in  the 
country  in  which  whipping  is  still  practiced,  but 
even  in  these  places  the  school  people  say  there 
is  not  as  much  punishing  as  there  w^as  ten  years 
ago.  They  predict  that  in  a  short  time  all  cor- 
poral punishment  will  be  abandoned,  and  children 
will  be  disciplined  in  some  other  way.  Physical 
force  persists  in  rural  schools  in  some  states 
more  largely  than  it  does  in  town  and  city  schools. 
One  state  superintendent  says  that  a  considerable 
proportion  of  his  teachers  still  whip  children 
occasionally;  but  in  these  states  young  women 
are  replacing  men  in  the  rural  schools,  and  they 
tend  to  rely  upon  other  means  than  force  in  the 
management  of  their  pupils. 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  197' 

The  Abolition  of  Corporal  Punishment. — 
What  is  the  effect  upon  the  conduct  of  children 
of  the  abolition  of  corporal  punishment!  Opinions 
differ  in  respect  to  this  matter.  Some  educa- 
tional men  think  pupils,  boys  especially,  are  not 
as  well-behaved  now  as  they  were  twenty  years 
ago,  and  are  not  as  respectful  toward  their 
teachers,  or  as  industrious  and  earnest  in  their 
work.  The  view  still  prevails,  among  these  men 
[that  if  the  rod  be  spared  in  the  schoolroom  the 
pupils  will  be  spoiled. 

But  the  majority  of  superintendents,  prin- 
cipals, and  teachers  maintain  rthat  pupils  conduct 
themselves  better  when  corporal  punishment  is 
not  practiced  upon  them  than  when  they  are 
whipped.  One  principal  claims  that  when  a 
pupil  is  whipped  the  whole  school  is  likely  to 
assume  a  rebellious  attitude  toward  the  teachers. 
He  says  he  knows  schools  in  which  the  boys  par- 
ticularly have  dared  one  another  to  see  what 
pranks  they  could  play  on  the  teacher  who 
punished  them,  and  he  thinks  the  use  of  force 
simply  arouses  the  evil  and  combative  impulses 
of  pupils. 

Classical  Writers  Advise  Against  the  Use  of 
the  Rod. —  The  classical  writers  on  education 
have  for  the  most  part  advised  against  the  use^f 
physical  coercion  in  the  training  of  the  young. 
John  Locke,  one  of  the  wisest  of  the  educational 
leaders  of  an  earlier  day,  advised  that  the  rod 


198  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

be  used  upon  children  only  when  they  were  ob- 
stinate or  disobedient;  he  would  overlook  most 
of  their  faults  and  shortcomings  because,  as  he 
said,  time  would  cure  them.  Rousseau  said 
parents  and  teachers  should  not  whip  children 
for  any  cause  whatsoever.  He  maintained  that 
children  should  learn  to  do  right  by  suffering 
the  natural  consequences  of  their  misdeeds. 
Herbert  Spencer  held  that  whipping  and  all 
methods  based  on  force  are  artificial  and  inef- 
fective. To  Froebel  whipping  children  was 
abhorrent,  for  he  said  it  brutalized  them  and 
suppressed  the  divinity  within  them.  Pestalozzi 
like  Froebel  advised  gentleness  in  all  discipline. 
Dr.  Montessori  says  it  is  never  necessary  to 
coerce  children;  she  claims  that  they  will  always 
do  what  is  right  if  they  be  treated  rationally. 
These  are  only  a  few  of  many  great  teachers 
who  have  urged  parents  and  teachers  to  throw 
away  the  rod  and  guide  children  along  the  right 
path  by  gentle  means. 

Physical  Force  Forbidden  in  France.—  In 
France  teachers  are  forbidden  to  use  physical 
force  in  the  discipline  of  pupils.  In  French 
schoolrooms  one  may  see  placards  against  the 
use  of  the  rod.  These  placards  state  what  a 
teacher  may  do  to  mischievous  pupils.  He  may 
assign  them  additional  tasks  as  a  penalty,  or 
deprive  them  of  their  intermissions,  or  detain 
them  after  school,  or  send  them  home,  or  report 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  190 

them  to  the  Prefect  of  the  Seine,  or  may  suspend 
them  from  school  for  a  time.  The  writer  has  asked 
French  schoolmasters  whether  they  approve  of 
the  law  prohibiting  all  corporal  punishment,  and 
without  exception  they  have  said:  **We  teach  our 
children  better  now  than  we  used  to  do.  They 
look  upon  us  as  big  brothers  or  fathers,  and  they 
do  what  we  wish  now  better  than  they  did  when 
we  used  to  whip  them  every  day.  We  would  not 
go  back  to  the  old  regime  when  the  rod  was  used 
so  freely.'' 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  in  some  schools 
conditions  have  greatly  improved  without  the  use 
of  force,  and  in  others  it  is  equally  true  that 
the  abandonment  of  force  has  led  to  evil  results ; 
but  the  explanation  is  easy  to  find  in  each  case. 
When  force  has  been  abandoned  successfully,  the 
teachers  are  able  to  gain  the  attention  of  pupils 
by  other  means.  The  teachers  have  more  com- 
manding personalities  than  was  the  case  for- 
merly. They  win  the  good  will  and  respect  of 
pupils  more  easily.  They  teach  studies  in  a  more 
interesting  way  than  they  were  taught  two  or 
three  decades  ago.  It  is  true  that  the  seductions 
of  the  world  are  constantly  increasing;  children 
are  subjected  to  distractions  which  were  unknown 
fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago ;  the  school  is  in  com- 
petition with  the  street,  the  nickelodeon,  the 
dance  hall,  and  the  vaudeville  for  the  attention 
of  pupils.    But  by  ineans  of  more  skillful  methods 


200  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

of  teaching  and  making  the  life  of  the  school 
more  attractive  than  the  life  outside,  teachers 
are  competing  successfully  with  these  distrac- 
tions, and  much  better  results  are  obtained  with- 
out the  evils  attending  the  use  of  force  as 
employed  in  an  older  day. 

In  any  community,  however,  in  which  all  force 
is  abandoned  without  improving  methods  of 
instruction  and  making  the  school  an  attractive 
place,  there  will  probably  be  disorder  sooner  or 
later.  This  is  the  case  in  some  communities 
which  the  writer  has  visited.  Pupils  do  not  do 
any  serious  work.  They  tantalize  the  teachers 
without  intending  to  be  mean.  They  think  a  good 
deal  more  about  ^^ cutting  up''  than  they  do 
about  learning  their  lessons.  When  such  a 
school  is  taught  by  a  weak  teacher  there  is  apt 
to  be  little  efficient  work  done.  Even  w^orse, 
pupils  are  likely  to  fall  into  bad  habits  of  loaiing 
in  the  schoolroom  or  playing  tricks  on  the  teacher 
or  on  their  fellows.  Many  of  the  pupils  who  fail 
in  college  have  good  native  ability,  but  in  the 
elementary  and  high  school  they  got  into  the 
way  of  wasting  their  time  and  thinking  it  more 
clever  to  play  tricks  than  to  master  their  studies, 
and  they  cannot  now  overcome  these  habits. 

The  first  requisite  in  any  community  in  which 
corporal  punishment  has  declined  or  is  prohibited 
is  to  secure  a  teacher  who  is  a  leader  and  who 
is  a  teacher-artist,     l^orce  will  not  be  required 


\ 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  201 

to-clay  in  most  schoolrooms  presided  over  by 
strong,  capable,  well-trained  teachers,  who  are 
also  natural  leaders.  This  type  of  teacher  is 
needed  in  American  schools  now  much  more  than 
ten  or  fifteen  years  ago  when  the  military  plan 
of  conducting  a  school  was  quite  generally  in 
operation. 

Ill 

Physical  Force  in  the  Home. —  What  may  be 
.-said  now  about  the  use  of  physical  force  in  train- 
7^g  children  in  the  home!  By  way  of  furnishing 
a  practical  illustration  of  the  wholesome  effect 
which  corporal  punishment  may  sometimes  pro- 
duce, the  following  testimony  from  a  conscien- 
tious, painstaking  mother  may  be  given. 

''I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  tell  my 
own  experience  as  a  mother  of  two  healthy, 
active,  mischievous  children.  It  was  years  be- 
fore our  first  baby  came  that  my  husband  and  I 
began  planning  and  studying  child  life.  Among 
other  things  we  decided  so  to  train  our  offspring 
that  it  would  never  have  to  be  our  painful  duty 
to  whip  them.  When  our  little  girl  came  she 
ruled  the  house,  being  healthy  and  very  active. 
She  was  petted  and  spoiled  and  at  the  age  of 
three  months  she  showed  a  good  deal  of  temper. 
As  she  grew  older  she  would  scream  and  kick 
until  she  got  what  she  w^anted.  I  was  at  a  loss 
to  know  how  to  handle  the  situation.    I  realized 


202  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

something  must  be  done  to  impress  on  lier  mind 
that  she  could  not  have  her  own  way  by  scream- 
ing when  she  could  not  have  what  she  wanted. 
We  tried  to  amuse  her  and  give  her  things  to 
occupy  her  mind,  but  all  in  vain.  One  day  guests 
were  coming  for  dinner,  and  all  was  in  readiness 
except  washing  and  dressing  the  baby,  who  was 
playing  on  the  floor.  I  picked  her  up  and  imme- 
diately she  began  to  scream  and  kick.  I  tried 
coaxing  her  and  petting  her  and  even  attempted 
to  make  play  out  of  it;  but  baby  had  a  will  of 
her  own  and  I  could  do  nothing  with  her.  Finally 
I  decided  I  must  put  an  end  to  her  stubborn- 
ness. I  talked  sternly  to  her;  she  opened  her 
eyes  but  yelled  all  the  louder.  Then  I  turned 
her  over  my  knee  and  gently  spanked  her,  hardly 
enough  to  hurt  her.  I  finished  dressing  her  and 
put  her  on  the  bed.  Then  she  went  through 
another  spasm.  I  again  turned  her  over  my 
knee,  but  this  time  I  spanked  her  hard,  put  her 
back  on  the  bed  and  very  sternly  told  her  to  stop 
crying.  In  a  minute  she  was  quiet  and  was  very 
good  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 

**A-s  she  grew  older  we  tried  all  kinds  of  ways 
to  punish  her,  but  even  to-day  nothing  but  a 
spanking  has  any  effect  on  her.  For  a  long  time 
she  had  not  been  punished,  but  last  week  I 
learned  she  had  run  away  from  school,  written 
her  own  excuses,  signed  her  report  cards,  and 
so  on.    I  took  her  up  to  my  room,  closed  the  door 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  203 

and  talked  kindly  to  her,  hoping  to  make  her 
ashamed  of  her  action;  but  she  grew  ugly,  and  I 
could  not  get  any  information  from  her.  At 
last,  in  desperation,  I  said  to  her,  ^I  did  not  think 
I  would  ever  have  to  spank  you  again;  you  are 
old  enough  to  know  how  to  behave,'  and  to  my 
surprise,  she  answered,  ^I'm  not  afraid  of  your 
spankings.'  The  emphasis  on  the  word  'your' 
astounded  me.  'Very  well,'  I  said;  'we'll  see.' 
I  told  her  to  go  to  bed  and  I  would  be  up  to  see 
her  in  five  minutes.  For  the  first  time  I  realized 
my  punishments  had  never  been  severe  enough, 
not  having  used  any  instrument  but  my  hands. 
I  searched  the  house  for  something  besides  the 
well-worn  hairbrush,  and  all  that  could  be  found 
was  the  wooden  top  which  had  come  on  a  grape 
basket.  Splitting  it  to  a  three-inch  width,  easy 
to  handle  heavy  enough  in  weight  to  give  a  good 
sting,  I  proceeded  upstairs  with  misgivings, 
wondering  if  I  was  pursuing  the  best  course.  I 
found  Betty  only  partly  undressed,  defiant,  and 
taking  her  time.  Immediately  I  took  off  the  rest 
of  her  clothing  except  her  shoes  and  stockings, 
laid  her  across  the  bed,  and  spanked  her  as  I 
had  never  done  before.  Since  then  she  has  been 
a  model  child  in  every  way. 

"My  boy  has  an  entirely  different  disposition. 
When  we  talk  and  reason  with  him  for  any 
wrong  act  he  very  quickly  repents;  and  while 
w^  punish  him  it  is  seldom  that  we  resort  to 


204  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

whipping.  Not  long  since,  however,  he  disobeyed 
his  father  and  took  a  tool  which  liis  father  valued 
highly,  and  used  it  too  roughly,  breaking  the 
handle.  His  father  told  him  he  could  not  go  to 
a  club  which  he  was  very  fond  of  nor  was  he  to 
be  allowed  to  go  on  a  hike  with  the  Boy  Scouts. 
We  were  puzzled  to  note  the  effect  this  punish- 
ment had  on  the  boy,  for  it  did  not  seem  to 
trouble  him  in  the  least.  He  stayed  home  and 
seemed  perfectly  happy.  In  a  couple  of  days  we 
noticed  he  seemed  to  be  in  deep  thought,  and  one 
night  he  could  hardly  wait  for  his  father's  return 
from  business.  When  his  father  returned  the 
boy  informed  him  that  staying  home  wasn't  a 
punishment  because  there  had  been  some  boys 
going  to  both  places  that  he  did  not  like  and  he 
had  intended  to  stay  home  anyway.  He  wound 
up  by  saying,  *Dad,  why  don't  you  lick  me  like 
the  other  fellows  get  licked?  When  the  fellows 
asked  what  you  did  when  I  started  the  kids 
laughing  in  school  and  I  told  them  *Just  lec- 
tured,' ^Gee!'  they  hollered  and  said  that  was 
sissy.'  His  father  did  as  the  boy  requested  and 
he  now  seems  to  take  pride  in  the  fact  that  he 
has  been  kicked'  like  the  rest  of  the  boys.  The 
next  day  I  heard  him  tell  one  of  his  playmates 
with  a  good  deal  of  pride  about  the  smarting 
sensations  he  got  when  'Dad  gave  me  a  regular 
bare-back  spanking.'  He  seems  to  have  more 
respect  for  his  father  since,  strange  as  it  may 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  205 

appear,  and  both  father  and  son  seem  to  have 
a  mutual  understanding. 

''I  do  not  favor  whipping  unless  it  is  the  last 
resort;  or  as  I  have  found  it  in  the  case  of  my 
own  girl,  nothing  else  has  such  good  effect.  But 
parents  must  study  each  child.  My  little  girl 
inherits  this  strain,  for  as  a  child  my  parents 
could  not  force  obedience  from  me  except  with 
the  help  of  the  strap. ' ' 

IV 

The  Danger  of  Too  Much  Repression  and 
Punishment, —  A  mother  and  grandmother  were 
accompanying  a  boy  four  years  old  and  a  girl  six 
years  old  on  the  train  from  Minneapolis  to  Chi- 
cago. They  were  typical  children  in  their  desire 
to  be  incessantly  active  in  a  motor  way.  The 
mother  and  grandmother  had  brought  nothing 
along  to  occupy  the  children  so  the  latter  under- 
took to  find  occupation  for  themselves.  The  trip 
lasted  from  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 
nearly  ten  at  night.  From  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  the  trip  there  was  almost  constant  con- 
flict between  the  children  and  their  mother  and 
grandmother.  The  children  wished  to  run  up 
and  down  the  aisle  of  the  car,  to  ^^fooP'  with  the 
curtains  on  the  windows,  to  crawl  over  the  back 
of  their  own  seat  into  the  next  one,  to  run  to 
the  door  whenever  the  train  stopped  in  order  to 


206  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

see  what  was  happening,  to  wrestle  with  one 
another  and  laugh  and  shout  at  the  top  of  their 
voices — and  so  on  through  a  long  list  of  *^  mis- 
chievous^' actions.  The  mother  and  grand- 
mother did  not  approve  of  anything  the  children 
wanted  to  do  spontaneously.  They  were  chiding 
them  and  threatening  them  all  day  long. 

Ruining  a  Child's  Disposition. —  As  a  sample 
of  the  mother's  methods  with  results,  the  follow- 
ing may  be  mentioned.  The  boy  had  found  the 
mother's  purse  and  was  opening  it.  The  mother 
said:  ^^Keep  your  hands  off  that  purse."  The 
boy  continued  turning  it  about  and  trying  to 
open  it.  The  mother  said  again:  ^^If  you  don't 
let  that  alone  and  put  it  down  I'll  slap  you." 
Still  the  boy  kept  on,  and  the  mother  exclaimed : 
*^ Don't  you  hear  me?  Put  that  purse  down  and 
behave  yourself.  How  many  times  must  I  tell 
you  to  do  a  thing  before  you  will  do  as  you  are 
told?"  Finally  she  slapped  him  severely  on  his 
cheek,  and  said:  ^^You  deserve  it  and  you'll 
get  more  if  you  do  not  mind  when  I  speak  to 
you. ' ' 

The  boy  put  down  the  purse  and  sat  sullenly 
in  his  seat  for  a  minute  or  two.  Then  he  began 
pushing  the  window  curtain  up  and  down.  The 
mother  commanded  him  to  let  the  curtain  alone 
and  behave  himself.  She  went  through  about  the 
same  program  with  the  curtain  that  she  did 
with  the  purse,  and  at  last  slapped  the  boy.    As 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  207 

before,  lie  sat  down  sullenly  in  his  seat,  but  it 
was  not  long  until  he  was  on  his  feet  trying  to 
get  in  the  aisle  so  that  he  could  run  up  and 
down.  The  mother  did  not  approve  of  this  and 
she  ordered  him  to  sit  down  and  not  be  a 
nuisance  in  the  car.  After  continued  commands 
which  were  ignored  she  finally  grabbed  him  by 
the  shoulder  and  thrust  him  into  his  seat  and 
slapped  him  sharply  twice.  This  treatment 
quelled  him  momentarily. 

Meanwhile  the  girl  was  active.  She  had  got 
into  the  lunch-basket  and  was  helping  herself  to 
the  provisions.  She  received  a  slap  on  the  cheek 
which  smarted  and  made  her  cry.  The  grand- 
mother supported  the  mother  in  her  methods. 
She  could  be  heard  to  say:  ^^You  are  the  worst 
children  I  have  ever  seen.  You'll  never  be  on  a 
train  with  us  again,''  and  so  on  ad  nauseam. 

There  w^ere  a  few  brief  intervals  of  peace  dur- 
ing the  day  when  the  children  were  smarting 
from  their  slaps  or  were  fatigued;  but  when  the 
pain  ceased  they  would  get  into  action  again  and 
then  the  struggle  with  their  elders  would  be  re- 
sumed. Several  times  the  girl  cried  hard  when 
she  had  been  slapped.  And  while  she  was  weep- 
ing the  mother  or  grandmother  would  chide  her 
in  a  most  irritating  way,  telling  her  that  she  was 
a  nuisance  and  a  mischief-maker  and  had  all  the 
faults  that  anyone  of  her  size  could  possess. 
,  A  fellow  passenger  on  the  train,  being  unable 


208  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

to  endure  the  irritation  any  longer,  finally  asked 
the  mother  and  grandmother  why  they  did  not 
give  the  children  a  little  freedom  to  do  what 
they  wished  since  they  were  harming  no  one ;  and 
this  was  the  mother's  response:  **They  have 
been  making  life  miserable  for  us  ever  since  they 
got  on  this  train.  They  need  somebody  to  keep 
them  down.  It  does  not  help  them  or  us  any  to 
have  a  stranger  *butt  in.'  If  they  did  not  have 
a  strong  hand  over  them  it  would  be  impossible 
to  live  with  them  at  all.'' 

^^  Thorns  in  the  Flesh/ ^ — The  mother  and 
grandmother  were  both  worn  and  nervous.  So 
far  as  could  be  observed  they  did  not  smile  once 
during  the  entire  trip.  They  were  not  heard  to 
say  a  gentle  or  companionable  word  to  their 
children.  When  the  children  would  burst  out  in 
spontaneous  laughter  the  response  of  the  mother 
and  grandmother  was  a  scowl.  It  was  evident 
that  they  looked  upon  the  children  as  *  thorns  in 
the  flesh."  They  found  no  pleasure  in  them.  This 
was  undoubtedly  the  reason  why  they  were  so 
irritated  by  the  spontaneous  activities  of  the 
children.  As  a  consequence  they  were  fatigued 
and  neurotic.  They  probably  never  take  any 
pleasure  in  their  children.  They  regard  every- 
thing they  do  as  mischievous  and  annoying. 
These  women  think  they  have  constantly  to  chide, 
suppress  and  punish  the  children  in  order  to 
make  them  sit  still  and  ^'behave"  themselves. 


TRAINING  Disposition  209 

The  children  are  already  callous  to  the  com- 
mands that  are  given  them  by  the  mother  and 
grandmother.  Nature  makes  a  child  callous  to 
continual  censure  in  order  to  protect  himself. 
If  those  children  were  very  sensitive  to  all  that 
was  said  and  done  to  them  it  would  kill  them. 
The  only  way  they  can  survive  is  to  be  indiffer- 
ent. If  the  mother  and  grandmother  continue 
their  present  methods  of  training  it  will  not  be 
long  until  the  children  mil  openly  defy  them. 
They  will  have  no  respect  for  authority.  They 
will  develop  a  belligerent  attitude  because  they 
are  constantly  picked  on  and  they  will  give  as 
good  as  they  receive.  No  better  way  could  be 
thought  of  to  ruin  a  child's  disposition  and  make 
him  a  lawless  member  of  society. 


The  Banger  of  Over-indulgence. —  The  follow- 
ing instance  illustrates  a  method  of  spoiling  a 
child's  disposition  which  one  sees  practiced  very 
frequently  and  which  is  contrasted  to  the  method 
described  above.  A  mother  and  her  six-year-old 
boy  were  traveling  on  an  overland  train.  To 
provide  against  a  time  of  need,  the  mother  had 
brought  along  a  box  of  candy.  For  a  half  hour 
after  the  train  started  the  child's  attention  was 
occupied  with  the  novelty  of  the  situation,  but 
when  his  curiosity  in  the  new  sights  and  sounds 


210  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

began  to  wane  he  remembered  the  box  of  candy. 
The  mother  gave  him  a  liberal  allowance,  more 
than  she  said  was  good  for  him,  but  the  child 
teased  for  it  and  the  mother  yielded  under  pres- 
sure. Finally  she  said  to  him:  ^'Now  you  must 
not  ask  for  another  bit  of  candy  until  after  your 
dinner.'' 

The  boy  became  interested  in  some  pictures  in 
a  magazine,  but  his  interest  soon  flagged,  and 
again  he  thought  of  the  box  of  candy.  He  began 
teasing  his  mother  for  some  of  it.  It  was  less 
than  an  hour  since  he  had  had  a  generous  supply, 
but  his  appetite  for  candy  was  apparently  un- 
bounded, and  he  declared  that  he  ^*  just  must  have 
some  more."  The  mother  said  to  him:  **I  told 
you  you  could  not  have  any  more  till  after  your 
dinner.  You  have  had  too  much  now.  It  is  not 
good  for  you.  You  will  be  sick  if  you  eat  so  much 
of  it;"  and  more  of  the  same  kind.  But  after 
every  sentence  the  boy  would  say:  **But  I  want 
some  more  candy."  He  continued  his  teasing  in 
a  whining  and  irritating  voice.  The  mother 
threatened  him  with  punishment  if  he  did  not 
behave  himself,  all  of  which  the  boy  ignored, 
and  kept  on  with  his  whining.  Finally  the 
mother  relented  and  under  compulsion  gave  the 
boy  a  few  more  pieces  of  the  candy,  assuring 
him  at  the  same  time  that  under  no  conditions 
could  he  have  any  more  until  after  dinner.  He 
was  promised  a  whipping  if  he  asked  for  any 
more. 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  211 

In  less  than  an  hour  the  boy  began  again  to 
bully  his  mother  into  giving  him  candy.  The 
mother  resisted  just  as  she  did  the  first  time 
and  the  boy  made  use  of  the  same  whining,  irri- 
tating methods  with  the  same  results.  At  least 
^ve  times  during  the  day  the  mother  gave  the 
boy  candy,  though  she  promised  him  each  time 
that  he  could  not  have  any  more.  But  it  was 
apparent  that  he  had  found  from  previous  ex- 
perience that  if  he  kept  at  his  teasing  long 
enough  he  could  get  what  he  wanted. 

The  Spoiled  Child. —  One  can  easily  predict 
what  sort  of  a  disposition  this  child  will  have 
later  on.  He  has  already  acquired  indifference 
to  commands.  He  has  gained  the  notion  that  if 
he  persists  in  his  whining  he  can  secure  anything 
he  wishes.  He  has  not  learned  that  when  a 
promise  is  made  to  him,  it  will  be  observed.  In- 
stinctively all  children  resist  authority  at  first, 
but  a  well-trained  child  discovers  sooner  or 
later  that  when  a  parent  or  anyone  in  authority 
makes  a  statement  it  is  final,  and  teasing  will 
not  change  it.  And  when  a  command  is  given  it 
must  be  observed.  Every  normal  child  soon 
learns  that  if  he  pounds  his  finger  with  a  ham- 
mer he  will  be  hurt,  and  he  will  not  keep  pound- 
ing his  finger..  He  learns,  too,  that  if  he  falls 
down  stairs  he  will  suffer,  and  he  does  not  argue 
the  matter  with  the  stairs  nor  with  the  hammer; 
he  simply  accepts  the  situation  and  governs  him- 


212  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

self  accordingly.  So  during  the  first  two  or 
three  years  of  his  life  he  learns  that  there  are 
several  hundred  acts  he  cannot  perform  without 
getting  hurt,  and  it  does  not  take  him  a  great 
while  to  avoid  performing  those  acts. 

But  in  his  relations  to  the  people  about  him 
he  often  finds  that  by  teasing  and  argument  and 
whining  he  can  secure  what  he  wishes  and  do 
what  he  wants  to  do  without  suffering  any  ill- 
consequences.  If  he  should  discover  that  by  teas- 
ing he  could  put  his  finger  in  the  flame  of  a  candle 
and  not  get  hurt,  he  would  tease  to  be  permitted 
to  do  so,  just  as  he  teases  to  get  candy ;  but  when 
he  sees  that  teasing  is  of  no  account  he  mil 
abandon  it.  In  the  same  way  a  well-brought-up 
child  learns  that  teasing  will  not  bring  him  any- 
thing from  his  parents  or  teachers,  and  he  does 
not  practice  it. 

Anyone  could  tell  that  the  boy  on  the  train 
had  not  been  well-brought-up.  The  mother  had 
relented  in  the  past  and  the  child  knew  she  would 
relent  in  the  present  if  he  persisted  in  his  bully- 
ing. She  held  out  long  enough  to  make  it  un- 
pleasant for  herself  and  the  boy  and  everyone 
around  her,  and  then  she  yielded.  Every  time  she 
yields  it  will  be  the  more  difficult  to  teach  her  boy 
proper  regard  for  authority.  He  does  not  go  to 
bed  at  night  as  early  as  his  mother  wishes  him 
to  do ;  he  will  not  let  any  object  in  the  house  alone 
if  he  wishes  to  ^^fool'^  with  if;  and  so  on  through 


TRAINING  DISPOSITION  213 

a  long  list  of  irregularities,  all  of  whicli  could 
have  been  avoided  if  he  had  from  the  outset 
learned  that  when  a  statement  is  made  or  a  com- 
mand given  it  will  do  no  good  for  him  to  try  to 
avoid  it  or  change  it  by  teasing  or  whining. 

Ruining  Disposition  by  Too  Much  Attention. — 
Children  are  frequently  spoiled  by  giving  them 
too  much  attention,  as  the  following  case  illus- 
trates. Frances  is  three  years  old,  very  pretty 
and  winsome.  There  are  in  the  family  two  older 
sisters  and  a  brother,  besides  the  father  and 
mother  and  an  aunt.  All  the  members  of  the 
family  have  been  much  interested  in  the  baby 
since  her  birth  and  they  have  given  her  a  good 
deal  of  attention.  They  are  a  social  family  and 
many  friends  call  upon  them  and  they  go  fre- 
quently to  visit  their  friends.  Whoever  comes  to 
the  house  must  say  something  to  Frances  and 
show  how  much  they  think  of  her  by  talking  to 
her,  taking  her  in  their  arms,  offering  to  do  this 
or  that  for  her,  and  so  on.  The  members  of  the 
family  like  to  have  people  notice  her  because  she 
in  such  an  attractive  ^^  little  thing.  ^^  But  she  is 
causing  some  apprehension  now  because  when- 
ever anyone  speaks  to  her  she  says,  *^No,  no,^' 
in  a  petulant  voice.  Ask  her  any  question  or 
make  any  advances  toward  her  and  her  one  re- 
sponse will  be  ^^No,  no."  The  parents  think  she 
is  developing  a  bad  habit  and  should  have  some 
training  to  get  her  out  of  it. 


214  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

Oue  way  to  prevent  Frances  from  forming  an 
annoying  habit  and  acquiring  an  irritable  dis- 
position would  be  for  the  members  of  her  family 
and  all  others  to  keep  hands  off  more  than  they 
now  do.  She  should  be  taken  only  very  rarely  to 
neighbors  and  friends  for  visits.  When  friends 
come  to  the  house  she  should  be  kept  out  of  sight 
for  the  most  part, — in  her  sand-pile  or  playing 
with  her  blocks  or  dolls  alone.  The  brother  and 
sisters  should  leave  her  to  her  own  devices  more 
than  they  do.  She  must  grow  from  within  quietly. 
It  will  take  some  time  for  the  family  to  learn 
that  they  should  not  make  a  play-thing  of 
Frances.  They  have  not  done  this  purposely,  of 
course;  they  think  they  have  been  doing  the 
right  thing  by  Frances  in  showing  her  off  and 
making  her  the  center  of  attention. 

There  are  a  great  many  children  like  Frances 
in  American  families  who  cause  their  parents 
trouble  because  of  their  irritability  and  lack  of 
appreciation  of  what  is  done  for  them.  They 
would  be  more  appreciative  if  they  received  less 
attention  than  they  do  receive,  and  if  they  were 
left  to  themselves  much  of  the  time  without  inter- 
ference, even  by  members  of  the- family  and  cer- 
tainly by  friends  and  neighbors. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  FIRST  TOYS  AND  PLAYTHINGS 


Primary  Mental  Hungers. —  One  cannot  under- 
stand the  meaning  or  value  of  toys  unless  he 
appreciates  that  all  normal  children  are  born 
with  profound  mental  as  well  as  physical  hungers. 
A  child  who  did  not  crave  mental  experience 
would  be  feeble-minded.  If  he  should  lack  any 
of  the  primary  mental  hungers  he  would  be  men- 
tally defective  in  these  respects.  In  idiots  physi- 
cal hungers  are  dominant  throughout  life,  and 
this  is  one  reason  why  they  do  not  develop  men- 
tally. These  hungers  are  not  all  felt  at  the  same 
time.  Some  appear  in  infancy,  while  others  are 
not  manifested  until  the  teens.  Still  others  do 
not  appear  until  the  approach  of  full  maturity. 
Psychologists  speak  of  nascent  or  growing 
periods  in  human  life,  by  which  they  mean  that 
the  various  mental  traits,  interests,  and  abilities 
make  their  appearance  and  become  dominant  at 
different  stages  of  development. 

Most  persons  regard  toys  as  suitable  merely 
for  a  child's  occupation  and  entertainment.    But 

215 


216  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

while  they  should  serve  this  purpose,  they 
should  at  the  same  time  meet  a  more  important 
need.  Every  toy  should  minister  in  some  degree 
to  one  or  more  of  the  primary  mental  hungers. 
A  fortunate  child  would,  in  the  course  of  his 
development,  have  toys  which  would  gratify  each 
hunger  when  it  was  at  its  height.  It  is  too  much 
to  expect  that  the  majority  of  children  will  be 
so  situated  that  they  can  have  just  the  toys  and 
all  the  toys  which  will  be  best  adapted  to  their 
needs  at  each  stage  of  infancy,  childhood  and 
youth.  But  it  should  be  possible  in  every  home, 
however  humble,  to  provide  a  few  toys  with  which 
the  children  may  exercise  mental  and  muscular 
functions  according  to  their  needs.  It  is  not  a 
question  primarily  of  expense,  for  the  reason  that 
the  most  valuable  toys  are  not  costly.  A  father 
who  is  handy  with  a  few  tools  and  a  mother  who 
can  use  a  needle  and  scissors  deftly  can  easily 
make  most  of  the  toys  which  a  baby  will  require 
in  order  to  be  happily  and  profitably  occupied 
during  his  waking  hours.  The  elaborately  con- 
structed toys  which  leave  little  or  nothing  for  the 
baby  himself  to  do  are  not  best  adapted  either 
to  promote  his  mental  development  or  to  gratify 
his  interests. 

What  are  the  primary  hungers  that  should 
determine  the  baby's  toys!  First  of  all  come 
the  touch  and  muscular  hungers.  Nature  designs 
that  every  normal  child  after  about  the  fourth 


FIRST  TOYS  AND  PLAYTHINGS  217 

month  should  handle  everything  he  can  get  hold 
of.  And  Nature  says  to  him:  **Do  not  be  satis- 
fied simply  with  touching  and  manipulating  ob- 
jects with  your  hands.  Put  everything  you  can 
manage  into  your  mouth.'' 

The  Mouth  Is  the  Goal  of  All  Activities  in 
the  Early  Months. —  During  the  first  year,  the 
mouth  is  the  goal  of  every  object  the  child  can 
lay  his  hands  on.  After  the  first  year  the  hands 
play  an  increasingly  important  part  in  touching 
and  exploring  objects ;  but  one  rarely  sees  a  five- 
months-old  child  feeling  of  things  with  his  fin- 
gers. His  hands  are  simply  carriers  with  which 
to  convey  objects  to  his  mouth.  During  the 
early  months  the  sense  of  touch  is  apparently 
keener  in  the  lips  and  tongue  than  it  is  in  the 
fingers ;  and  the  muscular,  or  as  the  psychologists 
say,  the  kinaesthetic,  sense  is  apparently  more 
dependable  in  the  jaws  than  in  the  hands  and 
arms.  And  these  facts  greatly  complicate  the 
problem  of  choosing  suitable  toys  for  the  baby. 
The  mother  may  be  assured  that  anything  the 
baby  can  manipulate  will  go  to  his  mouth.  For 
this  reason  he  cannot  be  allowed  to  use  toys  that 
will  easily  collect  dirt  or  that  are  covered  with 
paint  or  dye  that  will  come  off  when  moistened  by 
the  saliva.  One  often  sees  a  baby  playing  with  a 
ball  of  colored  yarn.  The  dye  runs  and  he  gets 
some  of  the  threads  in  his  mouth,  and  he  makes  a 
bad  mess  of  the  whole  thin^-.   Sometimes  a  mother 


218  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

covers  the  baby's  rattle  with  soft,  colored  yarn 
so  that  he  will  not  '4iurt  himself'  with  it.  This 
is  a  mistake.  Even  if  the  baby  bumps  his  nose 
or  his  forehead  with  the  uncovered  rattle  and 
howls  a  little,  he  might  better  bear  these  ills  than 
to  suffer  greater  ones  such  as  those  that  follow 
from  sucking  dyes  tuffs. 

The  toys  used  during  the  first  eighteen  months 
should  be  of  material  which  can  be  thoroughly 
cleansed  frequently,  preferably  by  boiling.  Some 
of  a  baby's  troubles  along  the  alimentary  tract 
are  due  to  the  swallowing  of  germs  that  collect  on 
his  playthings.  If  a  baby  must  play  with  his 
toys  on  the  floor,  it  will  save  him  some  digestive 
trouble  if  a  clean  sheet  is  spread  over  the  rugs 
or  carpet  or  bare  floor.  Without  these  precau- 
tions, his  toys,  moist  with  saliva,  will  collect  the 
dirt  in  his  vicinity  and  eventually  this  dirt  will 
find  lodgment  in  his  digestive  system.  Happily, 
not  all  the  germs  that  are  collected  and  swallowed 
in  this  way  create  trouble,  but  some  of  them  are 
likely  to  do  so.  The  most  eminent  students  of 
germ  diseases,  such  as  Pasteur  and  Metchnikoff, 
maintain  that  all  dirt,  wherever  found,  contains 
harmful  germs  and  ought  never  to  be  swallowed. 
When  one  sees  babies  playing  with  their  toys  on 
dirty  rugs  or  bare  floor,  he  wonders  how  any  of 
them  ever  survive  the  experience.  Of  course,  a 
considerable  proportion  of  babies  do  not  live  out 
their  first  year.     We  could  reduce  this  propor- 


FIRST  TOYS  AND  PLAYTHINGS  219 

tion  if  we  kept  the  baby's  playthings  clean  in  a 
hygienic  sense — that  is,  free  from  germs. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  touch  and  muscular 
hunger.  There  are  other  hungers  that  are  mani- 
fested as  early  as  the  fifth  or  sixth  month  and 
that  last  until  the  teens,  at  any  rate.  There  is 
the  hunger  for  sounds,  the  hunger  to  be  the  cause 
of  happenings,  and  the  hunger  to  do  what  those 
about  one  are  doing,  that  is,  imitation.  Then 
there  is  the  passion  to  throw,  to  climb,  to  tear, 
to  pound,  to  cut,  to  slide,  and  so  on.  These  are 
the  great  hungers  or  passions,  all  of  which  ap- 
pear during  the  first  three  years,  which  parents 
should  strive  to  gratify  by  appropriate  toys  and 
playthings. 

II 

The  First  Toy  —  the  Rattle, —  As  far  back  as 
we  have  any  record  of  babies,  their  first  toy  has 
usually  been  the  rattle,  and  it  will  undoubtedly 
continue  to  be  the  first  toy  so  long  as  babies  are 
in  fashion.  The  baby's  interest  in  the  rattle  lies 
partly  in  the  agreeable  sounds  he  can  produce 
with  it,  but  there  is  an  additional  interest  in  that 
by  shaking  it  he  can  gratify  his  hunger  for  mus- 
cular activity.  One  may  note  in  observing  a  baby 
with  a  rattle  that  his  whole  muscular  apparatus 
---arms,  legs,  body  muscles,  vocal  muscles — is 
brought  into  action  when  he  is  playing  with  it. 
The  passion  for  the  rattle  is  at  its  height  between 


220  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

the  third  and  the  eighth  or  ninth  month;  there- 
after a  normal  child  will  be  more  interested  in 
objects  which  have  more  marked  and  diversified 
characteristics,  and  which  he  can  put  to  a  greater 
variety  of  uses  than  he  can  the  rattle.  If  one  will 
observe  the  child  playing  with  the  rattle,  he  will 
note  that  it  is  not  an  objective  or  intellectual 
activity  to  any  extent.  He  gives  himself  up  com- 
pletely to  the  simple  experience  of  shaking  the 
rattle.  He  does  not  investigate  it  to  see  of  what 
it  is  made  or  what  can  be  done  with  it  except  to 
shake  it  and  get  noise  from  it.  But  an  eight-  or 
nine-months-old  child  is  normally  intensely  inter- 
ested in  the  objects  about  him  and  he  manipulates 
them  unceasingly,  and  the  rattle  will  no  longer 
attract  him  more  strongly  than  other  objects. 

The  Drum  and  Bells. —  But  for  many  months 
and  even  for  years  the  baby  w^ill  be  interested  in 
toys  or  playthings  from  which  he  can  get  sounds 
of  varying  quality  and  intensity.  From  time 
immemorial  children  have  been  interested  in  the 
drum,  partly  for  the  sound  it  yields  and  partly 
because  it  indulges  the  passion  to  pound.  Any 
child  would  be  unfortunate  who  could  not  have 
a  drum  or  something  corresponding  to  it  as  early 
as  the  third  year.  There  is  one  objection  to  this 
toy  since  in  modern  life,  when  we  are  all  shut  up 
in  houses,  it  may  be  irritating  to  the  nerves  of 
adults,  and  it  may  be  over-stimulating  to  the 
baby  himself.    But  the  drum  can  be  muffled.    The 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  221 

baby  will  gain  the  muscular  pleasure  of  beating 
it  and  he  will  be  satisfied  with  the  subdued  sound 
unless  he  has  become  accustomed  to  the  blare  of 
the  unmuffled  drum.  In  addition  to  the  drum  as 
a  sound-making  toy,  a  three-year-old  child  should 
have  a  string  of  tuned  bells  upon  which  he  can 
run  an  octave  at  least.  If  these  are  put  in  a 
living-room  where  there  are  adults  and  older 
children,  they  will  probably  be  disturbing,  but  if 
the  baby  has  a  room  to  himself,  he  will  gain  vast 
pleasure  out  of  the  bells  and  they  will  be  of  some 
'  educative  value  to  him  besides,  in  helping  him 
to  take  the  first  steps  in  discriminating  pitch 
and  tone. 

Of  course,  a  three-year-old  will  be  more  inter- 
ested in  beating  the  bells  and  in  producing  noise 
rather  than  in  delicacy  or  harmony  of  sound; 
but  there  is  no  way  to  circumvent  this  instinct 
to  pound.  Nature  has  evidently  ordained  that  a 
normal  child  from  the  eighth  month  on  to  the 
teens,  at  any  rate,  should  be  passionately  fond  of 
pounding.  If  baby  can  pound  on  sound-producing 
objects,  the  fascination  of  the  exercise  will  be  all 
the  greater.  But  even  if  the  noise  made  is  a 
minor  factor,  he  will  still  be  interested  in  the 
mere  muscular  exercise.  Up  to  the  second  year 
he  will  take  no  interest  in  directing  his  pounding 
in  any  definite  way.  If  he  uses  a  hammer,  he 
will  merely  *  ^hammer,''  but  after  his  second  year 
.he  will  begin  to  make  his  pounding  more  purpose- 


222  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

ful.  A  tliree-year-olcl  child  would  rather  drive 
a  nail  with  a  hammer  than  merely  pound  on  a 
board  or  the  floor.  This  is  the  time  to  introduce 
hammer  and  nails,  and  from  this  point  on,  almost 
to  maturity,  the  typical  boy  will  be  fascinated 
with  driving  nails.  At  first  his  interest  will  be 
simply  in  driving  them  without  any  ulterior  end 
or  aim,  merely  for  the  exercise;  but  as  he  goes 
on  he  will  lose  his  interest  in  merely  pounding 
nails,  and  he  will  drive  them  for  some  purpose — 
that  is  to  say,  he  will  try  to  construct  objects. 

Ill 

The  Ball. —  Undoubtedly  a  ball  will  give  a  baby 
as  much  pleasure  as  any  other  one  object.  The 
sensations  derived  from  the  feeling  of  the  ball  are 
most  agreeable.  And  then  the  uses  to  which  the 
ball  can  be  put  are  varied.  The  six-months-old 
baby  will  be  interested  mainly  in  the  rolling  of 
the  ball,  and  this  interest  will  continue  for  many 
months.  When  he  becomes  fairly  secure  on  his 
feet,  by  the  time  he  is  two  years  old  at  least,  new 
interests  in  the  ball  will  arise — that  is,  in  throw- 
ing it  and  bounding  it.  There  is  no  keener  pleas- 
ure* for  a  child  than  to  throw  his  ball  against  the 
side  of  a  house,  say,  and  have  it  come  back  to  him. 
Then  in  time  comes  the  delight  of  catching  the 
ball,  when  he  bounces  it  himself  or  when  it  is 
thrown  to  him.    Interest  in  these  activities  with 


FIRST  TOYS  AND  PLAYTHINGS  223 

the  ball  is  supreme  through  all  the  years  up  into 
and  often  beyond  the  teens.  Many  adults  like  to 
play  with  balls  of  some  sort — base  balls,  hand 
balls,  tennis  balls,  golf  balls,  billiard  balls  and 
bowling  balls.  The  value  of  these  ball  activities 
in  the  development  of  the  child's  co-ordination 
and  self-control  can  hardly  be  over-estimated. 

So  every  baby  should  have  his  ball.  Like  all 
his  other  toys  it  should  at  first  be  made  of  a  sub- 
stance which  can  be  easily  cleansed — either  cel- 
luloid or  rubber.  After  the  second  year  the 
child  will  not  ordinarily  put  his  ball  in  his  mouth, 
and  boiling  it  is  not  so  important;  but  during  the 
early  months  it  would  be  well  if  the  ball  could  be 
boiled  frequently  in  order  to  free  it  from  harm- 
ful germs.  It  is  certain  that  it  will  be  covered 
with  saliva  every  time  the  child  uses  it,  and 
saliva,  as  intimated  above,  is  a  good  medium  for 
attracting  and  holding  dust  and  germs. 

IV 

Breaking^  T earing ^  Throwing  Activities. —  The 
baby's  curiosity  to  find  out  everything  that  can 
be  discovered  about  the  objects  he  handles  is  at 
the  bottom  of  some  of  the  traits  that  cause  trou- 
ble in  the  household — tearing,  breaking,  smash- 
ing, throwing  objects,  and  so  on.  It  is  as  natural 
for  a  baby  to  smash  a  china  dish  as  it  is  for 
him  to  handle  it  to  see  how  it  feels.     A  wise 


224  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

parent  will  count  upon  it  that,  do  what  he  may, 
the  baby  will  purposely  break  some  of  the  break- 
able objects  he  handles  unless  this  passion  is 
indulged  by  giving  him  playthings  designed  to 
be  smashed.  A  baby  must  have  experience  in 
breaking  objects,  if  not  in  his  first  or  second  or 
third  year,  then  later  on;  it  is  a  hunger  which 
will  be  gratified  some  time  and  in  some  way. 
Therefore  wise  parents  will  provide  cheap  glass 
and  china  toys  with  the  expectation  that  they  will 
be  broken.  The  baby's  dishes  at  the  table  should 
be  of  inexpensive  material,  or  else  of  material 
which  cannot  be  broken.  It  is  a  very  exceptional 
baby  who  will  not  sometimes  throw  his  plate  on 
the  floor  to  see  what  will  happen  to  it.  If  nothing 
happens,  he  will  soon  abandon  the  sport.  But  if 
it  makes  an  extraordinary  sound  and  flies  to 
pieces,  he  will  be  greatly  tempted  to  repeat  the 
experience  frequently  during  his  first  two  years. 
Eemember,  he  is  an  experimentalist,  and  he  is 
trying  to  see  what  he  can  do  with  everything.  He 
has  exactly  the  same  interest  fundamentally  that 
the  scientist  has  who  constantly  is  seeing  what 
he  can  do  with  the  new  objects  he  finds,  only  the 
child's  experimentation  is  not  so  interesting  to 
an  adult  and  it  is  more  expensive  without  any 
appreciable  returns. 

The  adult  often  looks  upon  the  baby's  passion 
to  tear  as  a  destructive  impulse ;  but  viewed  from 
the   psychological    standpoint    it    is    simply    one 


FIRST  TOYS  AND  PLAYTHINGS  225 

form   of   experimentation.     A   wise   parent   will 
provide  his  baby  with  material  for  indulging  this 
passion.     If   the   child   has    a   supply   of   paper 
which  he  can  tear  at  pleasure,  his  hunger  will  be- 
come satiated  in  time  and  he  will  not  tear  the 
books  which  he  ought  to  preserve;  though,  as  in 
the  case  of  breaking  objects,  there  is  probably  no 
way  by  which  a  parent  can  avoid  some  disaster 
to  books.     The  only  safegTiard  is  to  keep  valu- 
able books  away  from  the  child  during  his  first 
two  years,  at  any  rate,  and  to  let  him  tear  value- 
less papers  or  books  as  frequently  as  he  chooses. 
In  due  time  the  parent  can  make  him  aware  of 
the  difference  between  tearing  a  newspaper  or  an 
old  magazine  and  tearing  books  that  belong  to 
father    and    mother    and    brothers    and    sisters. 
A  three-year-old  child  can  learn  that  when  books 
as  well  as  other  objects  are  in  certain  places  they 
are  not  to  be  touched.    He  cannot  appreciate  that 
these  objects  have  value  and  so  should  not  be 
injured,  but  he  can  learn  to  keep  his  hands  off 
of  them  when  they  are  in  certain  places,  and  if 
he  has  opportunity  to  gratify  his  passion  in  his 
own  room,  his   attention  can  be  diverted  from 
objects  of  value. 

The  child's  desire  to  throw  is  closely  associated 
in  many  parents '  minds  mth  his  passion  to  break 
and  smash  objects.  Certain  it  is  that  this  passion 
is  so  profound  that  it  mil  be  gratified  at  all 
hazards.     Unhappy  will  be  the  child  who  must 


226  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

make  his  own  opportunities  to  indulge  this  pas- 
sion, because  he  will  be  in  trouble  all  the  time. 
If  his  parents  do  not  provide  a  place  for  him  to 
throw  and  give  him  soft  balls  to  throw  in  the 
house,  then  he  will  throw  whatever  he  can  lay 
hands  on  that  is  throwable  whenever  he  gets  a 
chance,  no  matter  whether  he  is  inside  the  house 
or  outside.  The  throwing  impulse  can  be  in- 
dulged with  the  pea-shooter  and  the  sling-shot,  as 
well  as  with  the  unaided  arm,  and  a  three-year- 
old  child  should  have  a  pea-shooter  and  shoot  at 
a  target.  There  are  throwing  games  that  can  be 
played  in  the  house,  as  in  throwing  bean-bags, 
and  the  like,  and  one  or  more  of  these  should  be 
included  among  a  child's  toys. 

A  Sand-pile  or  Sand-table, —  Most  persons  do 
not  think  of  sand  as  a  toy;  but  in  a  very  real 
sense  it  is  a  toy  of  immense  value  for  the  child. 
There  never  is  a  normal  child  who  does  not  enjoy 
the  feeling  of  sand  on  his  skin,  and  especially  who 
does  not  take  great  delight  in  burrowing  in  it 
and  making  all  kinds  of  forms  and  designs  with 
it.  This  passion  lasts  throughout  life  for  many 
persons;  even  in  old  age  some  men  and  women 
like  to  play  in  the  sand  on  the  seashore,  to  cover 
themselves  with  it,  and  to  construct  figures  and 
forms  in  it.  But  the  passion  is  at  its  height  be- 
tween the  first  and  the  ninth  or  tenth  years.  A 
child  who  does  not  have  a  sand-pile  is  to  be 
pitied ;  and  he  needs  a  box  of  it  in  the  house  dur- 


FIRST  TOYS  AND  PLAYTHINGS  227 

ing  the  winter,  too.  Some  of  the  irritation  and 
discontent  of  many  children  in  winter  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  they  cannot  play  with  and  in  sand 
and  soil.  This  difficulty  can  be  partly  overcome 
by  using  a  sand-box  in  the  nursery.  If  it  could 
be  made  big  enough  so  that  the  baby  could  sit  in 
it  and  manipulate  the  sand,  it  would  be  especially 
serviceable. 


The  Imitative  Impulse. —  As  the  baby  grows 
older  and  the  imitative  impulse  takes  possession 
of  him,  he  will  use  his  sand-table  or  sand-pile  for 
the  purpose  of  reproducing  what  he  sees  being 
made  around  him.  He  will  make  sand-pies  in 
imitation  of  his  mother  *s  pies,  for  instance.  He 
will  hoe  and  spade  in  imitation  of  his  father's 
hoeing  and  spading.  In  due  course  he  will  lay 
out  streets  and  make  caves  and  forts  in  imita- 
tion of  what  he  sees  or  reads,  and  so  on  ad 
libitum.  President  Stanley  Hall,  who  has  told 
his  own  sand-pile  experiences  in  his  ^^The  Story 
of  a  Sand-pile,"  has  shown  how  the  entire  life  of 
the  community  may  be  worked  out  by  a  child  in 
his  sand-pile. 

Plasticene  is  an  excellent  material  for  use  in 
reproducing  some  of  the  objects  which  interest 
the  child.  The  initial  supply  will  last  for  years, 
and  .afford  the  child  unending  pleasure.  By 
means  of  it  he  can  reproduce  the  forms  of  the 


228  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

objects  lie  sees  about  him.  He  can  make  men  and 
women  and  children  and  animals  of  every  kind. 
He  can  model  dishes  and  hats  and  houses,  and  in 
fact  almost  any  object.  As  he  grows  older  he 
can  work  out  elaborate  and  dramatic  situations 
with  this  material;  he  can  have  armies  engaged 
in  battle,  people  in  parades,  men  riding  horses, 
dogs  chasing  foxes,  and  so  on  at  any  length. 

Building  Blocks . —  In  gratification  of  the  child  ^s 
hunger  to  reproduce  the  forms  and  activities  he 
observes  around  him,  building  blocks  will  be 
found  useful.  The  year-old  baby  will  be  inter- 
ested simply  in  handling  the  blocks,  feeling  of 
them,  and  throwing  them  around.  By  the  second 
year  he  will  use  his  blocks  for  crude  construc- 
tions of  designs  that  he  sees  or  that  are  sug- 
gested to  him.  He  will  like  first  to  build  houses 
and  barns  and  steeples,  though  an  observer  would 
not  recognize  them  as  such.  He  will  lay  out 
farms  and  roads  and  streets  if  he  be  given  a 
little  direction.  He  will  also  construct  forms 
more  or  less  aimlessly,  just  to  see  what  he  can 
make.  This  is  one  of  the  primary  traits  of  the 
human  mind,  to  experiment  merely  to  see  what 
may  happen.  In  this  experimentation  the  child 
will  accidentally  hit  on  designs  that  please  him, 
and  then  he  will  try  to  produce  these  designs 
again.  So,  in  reality,  he  becomes  an  inventor  in 
his  way.  Some  of  the  most  useful  inventions 
throughout  the  liistory  of  mankind  have  been  dis- 


FIRST  TOYS  AND  PLAYTHINGS  229 

covered  accidentally,  while  men  were  simply  ex- 
perimenting to  see  what  would  happen.  So  this 
impulse  of  the  child  should  be  given  free  scope. 
He  should  be  provided  with  a  big  box  of  large 
blocks  of  different  forms  and  sizes.  Tiny  blocks 
should  never  be  given  a  baby,  for  one  reason  be- 
cause they  demand  too  fine,  precise  manipulation. 
In  a  certain  sense,  the  larger  the  blocks  the  better 
they  will  serve  the  needs  of  the  young  child. 
They  must  not  be  so  large,  of  course,  that  he  can- 
not manage  them  easily. 

Materials  for  Representation. —  The  child's 
hunger  to  reproduce  forms  and  to  make  new  de- 
signs requires  that  he  be  supplied  early  with 
colored  crayons  and  rough  paper.  By  the  time 
he  is  three  years  of  age,  he  should  have  soft  lead- 
pencils  and  plenty  of  rough  paper.  He  should 
also  have  a  blackboard,  which  can  easily  be  made 
for  any  home.  There  are  cloth  blackboards  on 
the  market  now  which  can  be  hung  on  the  wall 
and  rolled  up  when  they  are  not  used.  They  cost 
very  little  and  will  answer  the  purpose  quite 
well.  A  child  will  gain  much  pleasure  from  these 
three  toys  and  he  will  derive  value  from  his  exer- 
cise. Of  course,  up  to  the  age  of  three  and  a  half 
or  four,  he  will  simply  scribble;  but  in  his  scrib- 
ling  he  has  useful  experience  in  making  forms 
that  resemble  script  letters.  His  eye  will  begin 
to  discriminate  between  different  script  forms  and 
this  will  be  a  help  to  him  when  at  the  age  of  six  or 


230  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

seven  he  comes  to  learn  words  in  either  printed  or 
script  form.  If  he  uses  a  pencil,  care  should  be 
taken  that  it  does  not  overtax  his  nerves  and 
muscles.  This  will  happen  if  the  lead  is  hard,  or 
if  he  labors  over  the  task  of  making  marks.  He 
is  more  likely  to  be  free  and  use  the  whole  arm 
movement  in  his  scribbling  if  he  uses  chalk  on 
a  blackboard  or  crayon  on  large  sheets  of  coarse 
paper. 

YI 

Riding,  Sliding,  Skating. —  Anyone  who  knows 
young  children  understands  that  they  are  pas^ 
sionately  fond  of  riding,  sliding  and  skating. 
There  is  a  fascination  about  gliding  through  the 
air  which  is  exhibited  by  the  sixth  month.  Even 
at  this  early  age  they  are  delighted  to  be  tossed 
into  the  air.  A  child  who  learns  that  no  harm 
can  come  to  him  when  he  is  thrown  up  to  the 
ceiling  and  caught  in  his  father's  arms  wants  to 
have  the  experience  repeated  indefinitely.  He 
likes  to  swing  at  this  age,  too,  if  he  be  assured 
that  he  will  not  fall.  This  pleasure  is  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  interest  in  riding  bicycles,  sliding 
down  banisters,  roller-skating,  and  the  like.  A 
parent  should  make  as  generous  provision  for 
the  gratification  of  this  hunger  as  can  be  done 
in  the  circumstances.  Certainly  as  early  as  the 
first  year,  children  should  have  roller-skates  if 
they  have  any  opportunity  to  use  them.    If  they 


FIRST  TOYS  AND  PLAYTHINGS  231 

have  a  room  to  themselves  there  will  be  no  harm 
in  their  roller-skating  in  it;  but,  of  course,  it 
would  be  better  if  they  could  be  out-of-doors  on 
a  sidewalk  or  on  the  street  if  they  would  not  be 
in  danger  from  traffic.  In  the  country  parents 
who  live  by  the  side  of  improved .  roads  should 
permit  their  children  to  roller-skate  on  them;  a 
macadam  or  asphalt  road  is  fine  for  skating. 

A  tricycle  is  a  source  of  unending  pleasure  to 
a  young  child  and  is  valuable  for  physical  and 
mental  development.  As  in  skating  so  in  riding, 
the  child  develops  coordination  and  control.  Even 
if  he  gained  no  valuable  experience  of  this  sort, 
he  would  at  least  be  exhilarated  by  the  experi- 
ence of  riding,  and  exhilaration  of  this  sort  is 
always  beneficial,  physically  and  mentally. 

The  Value  of  Mechanical  Toys. —  What  is 
the  value  of  mechanical  toys  like  engines  and 
trains?  There  are  some  students  of  childhood 
who  have  said  that  such  toys  have  no  value,  but 
they  probably  go  too  far  in  condemning  them  ut- 
terly. These  toys  will  have  value  just  to  the 
extent  that  they  stimulate  the  child  to  exercise 
his  ingenuity.  If  his  cars  must  always  be  run 
on  a  fixed  track  and  there  is  nothing  for  him  to 
do  but  start  them  and  watch  them,  they  will  have 
very  little  value  for  him.  They  will,  however, 
occupy  his  attention  for  brief  periods  at  a  time, 
and  so  they  may  help  him  past  a  discontented 
half-hour   now   and   again.     But   they   will   not 


232  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

afford  him  opportunity  for  self-activity  to  such 
an  extent  as  most  of  the  other  toys  that  have 
been  mentioned.  Mechanical  animals  come  in 
the  same  class  as  engines  and  cars.  They  are 
diverting  and  they  may  distract  the  attention  of 
children  who  are  becoming  peevish  because  they 
have  nothing  to  do.  But  these  automatic  animals 
are  of  very  little  importance  in  the  child's  mental 
or  physical  development.  Parents  who  can  afford 
them  should  provide  them  simply  to  fill  occasional 
moments  when  the  child  is  tired  of  other  activi- 
ties. If  he  gains  amusement  from  the  actions  of 
automatic  animals,  this  of  course  will  be  of  value. 
Any  experience  which  will  cause  a  child  to  laugh 
heartily  and  naturally  will  be  of  benefit  to  him. 

VII 

The  Boll. —  There  has  been  left  to  the  last  the 
most  important  of  all  toys — the  doll.  This  is 
the  girl's  most  highly-prized  and  mentally  valu- 
able toy.  There  is  no  very  marked  difference  in 
the  interests  of  boys  and  girls  in  their  toys  be- 
fore the  fourth  year,  say,  except  in  respect  to  the 
doll,  although  the  boy  is  more  pleased  with  toys 
that  permit  of  vigorous  muscular  action,  while 
the  girl  is  attracted  more  by  toys  that  permit  of 
fondling  and  care  and  service.  These  differences 
are  much  more  marked  after  the  fifth  year  than 
they  are  before  it ;  but  there  is  a  striking  differ- 
ence in  regard  to  doll  play  from  the  beginning. 


FIRST  TOYS  AND  PLAYTHINGS  233 

Psychologists  have  made  elaborate  studies  of 
doll  play.  Any  one  who  has  not  reflected  upon  it 
would  be  surprised  to  read  the  results  of  the  in- 
vestigations that  have  been  made  on  the  almost 
infinite  variety  of  activities  which  center  about 
the  care  of  and  companionship  with  dolls.  Every 
sort  of  experience  which  a  mother  could  have 
with  her  flesh-and-blood  baby  the  young  girl  may 
have  in  imagination  with  her  doll.  There  has 
been  much  discussion  of  what  kind  and  variety 
of  dolls  are  most  appropriate  for  a  baby.  The 
answer  always  is:  The  child  should  have  dolls 
which  will  give  the  best  opportunity  for  imitat- 
ing the  activities  and  relations  which  a  real 
mother  has  with  a  real  child.  Elaborately  made- 
up  dolls  which  are  to  be  looked  at  but  not  cared 
for  are  of  much  less  interest  and  value  than 
simpler  dolls  which  have  to  be  dressed  and 
washed  and  fed  and  nursed  and  caressed  and  put 
to  sleep  and  taught  manners,  and  so  on.  This 
requires  that  the  child  should  have  for  her  doll 
a  make-believe  laundry  outfit,  a  cooking  outfit,  a 
medicine  outfit,  and  whatever  else  will  give  op- 
portunity for  her  to  imitate  all  that  is  done 
for  a  normal  baby.  Even  one  rag  doll  will  be  a 
source  of  mental  value  and  a  great  delight  if  a 
child  has  these  outfits  so  that  she  can  reproduce 
what  she  observes  her  mother  doing  in  the  care 
of  herself  or  others  in  the  family. 

Tin  Soldiers  for  the  Boy. —  The  profound  in- 


234  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

terest  which  makes  the  doll  such  a  delightful  toy 
for  the  girl  makes  the  tin  soldier  of  interest  to 
the  boy;  but  soldiers  do  not  afford  anything  like 
the  opportunity  for  imitative  activities  that  the 
doll  affords.  If  possible  the  boy  should  be  pro- 
vided with  other  types  besides  soldiers — ^ball- 
players, policemen,  fire  companies,  and  so  on.  In 
this  way  he  can  reproduce  in  his  imitative  play 
much  of  what  he  observes  around  him,  and  play 
of  this  sort  will  be  of  value  for  him.  By  means 
of  it  he  will  the  more  readily  and  fully  learn  the 
characteristics  of  the  various  types  of  persons  in 
his  world. 

As  a  final  word,  it  may  be  said  that  any 
child  should  be  pitied  rather  than  envied  who 
has  a  superfluity  of  toys  so  that  he  is  distracted 
by  them  and  so  that  he  does  not  develop  the  pos- 
sibilities of  any  one  toy.  As  was  said  at  the  out- 
set, toys  will  have  interest  and  value  to  the  ex- 
tent that  they  give  opportunity  for  the  child  to 
be  self-active  in  gratifying  his  mental  and  motor- 
hungers.  Any  toy  which  does  not  stimulate  the 
child's  initiative  cannot  be  of  much  if  any  educa- 
tive value.  It  may  make  a  momentary  appeal,  as  in 
the  case  of  a  complex  mechanical  toy,  but  unless  it 
can  be  used  as  a  medium  for  carrying  on  his  dy- 
namic and  imitative  activities,  the  interest  in  it 
will  soon  flag.  Therefore,  the  simpler  the  toys  are 
the  more  valuable  they  will  be,  provided  they  af- 
ford opportunity  for  original,  creative  activities. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
FIRST  STEPS  IN  HOME  INSTRUCTION 


Taking  the  Child's  Pomt  of  Vieiu. — Here  is  an 
account  of  the  way  one  mother  gave  her  young 
daughter  a  lesson  on  the  piano.  The  child  was 
trying  to  execute  a  very  simple  piece — a  lullaby. 
The  mother  stood  at  her  side  counting  in  order 
to  help  her  keep  the  time.  The  child  made  a 
mistake,  holding  a  certain  note  too  long,  and  the 
mother  said:  *^ Can't  you  see  that  you  should 
have  made  that  a  quarter-note  and  you  made  it 
a  half -note?  Don't  you  remember  yesterday  I 
told  you  about  that?  Now  watch  closely,  and 
don't  make  that  mistake  again.  Start  at  the 
beginning,  and  try  it  over." 

The  child  did  the  whole  piece  over  again,  and 
made  the  same  mistake.  The  mother  was  sharp 
with  her,  and  said:  ^^If  you  would  only  keep 
your  attention  on  it,  you  would  not  do  this  way. 
Why  don't  you  try?  You  must  do  it  over  until 
you  get  it."  It  seemed  so  simple  to  the  mother 
that  she  was  impatient,  and  she  charged  the 
child   with    carelessness,    indifference   and    even 

235 


236  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

stupidity.  But  each  time  the  child  tried  it  she 
made  the  same  blunder  over  this  particular 
note.  Finally  the  mother  left  the  piano,  saying: 
^'I  haven't  any  time  to  spend  on  a  child  who 
can't  learn  anything." 

Yesterday  the  child  had  somewhat  the  same 
experience,  and  she  came  to  her  task  to-day 
afraid  that  she  would  make  a  mistake,  and  her 
mother  would  find  fault  with  her.  Of  course,  she 
would  be  apt  to  make  a  mistake  under  such  con- 
ditions. When  one  is  apprehensive  of  trouble  of 
this  kind,  the  trouble  is  likely  to  occur.  If  a 
grown  man  is  afraid  of  cutting  himself  with  his 
razor,  the  chances  are  he  will  do  it.  If  a  woman 
is  afraid  she  will  fall  off  from  a  plank  crossing 
a  stream,  and  she  keeps  her  mind  on  the  danger, 
she  will  probably  never  get  across  it.  Tight- 
rope walkers  say  that  if  they  lose  their  confi- 
dence and  get  it  fixed  in  mind  that  they  are 
likely  to  fall,  the  are  quite  apt  to  do  so. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  teaching  children  arises 
out  of  the  fact  that  those  who  have  mastered  acts 
until  they  have  become  automatic  and  seem  ex- 
ceedingly simple  do  not  know  how  to  discover 
the  difficulties  of  a  novice.  This  mother  had 
completely  forgotten  her  own  struggles  to  master 
the  problem  of  time  in  music.  It  did  not  seem 
a  problem  to  her  now,  and  she  could  not  put  her- 
self in  the  place  of  the  one  she  was  trying  to 
teach.     Result:  Waste,  irritation,  failure. 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  237 

The  Mistake  of  Talking  Too  Mvrch.—  The 
mother  exhibited  another  common  fault  in  teach- 
ing children;  she  tried  to  correct  her  child's  error 
by  talking  to  her  and  scolding  her.  It  seems  to 
be  natural  for  most  of  us  to  think  that  when  the 
young  make  mistakes  the  trouble  is  due  to  their 
carelessness  or  wilfulness,  and  we  think  the 
proper  method  of  procedure  is  to  chide  them  or 
chastise  them  in  some  way  so  as  to  make  them 
careful.  But  practically  every  word  the  mother 
spoke  to  her  child  confused  her.  In  a  situation 
like  this,  words  from  a  teacher  are  a  barrier  to 
clear  thinking  and  proper  execution;  they  dis- 
tract the  attention  and  muddle  the  brain  and  the 
hand. 

Men  who  perform  tricks  of  legerdemain  always 
talk  a  good  deal  to  their  audiences.  And  for 
what  purpose!  Because  they  know  that  if  they 
can  attract  the  attention  to  what  they  are  say- 
ing, they  can  prevent  people  from  seeing  all  that 
is  going  on.  The  more  they  talk,  the  less  likely 
they  are  to  be  caught  in  their  tricks.  A  person 
cannot  think  keenly  while  listening  to  a  stream 
of  language,  especially  if  this  language  is  sar- 
castic and  fault-finding  in  character.  The  mother 
ruined  her  lesson  by  her  talk.  If  she  had  simply 
shown  the  child  what  to  do  and  had  adopted  some 
device  to  prevent  the  repetition  of  the  error,  she 
would  have  saved  the  day.  But  she  only  scolded, 
and  the  child  could  not  translate  criticism  given 


238  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

in  this  way  into  understariding  or  proper  execu- 
tion. 

The  fact  that  the  child  continued  to  make  the 
same  error  should  have  indicated  to  the  mother 
that  her  methods  of  correcting  it  were  ineffectual. 
She  should  have  realized  that  the  child's  difficulty 
was  more  or  less  permanent.  The  time  in  this 
lesson  at  the  crucial  point  was  different  from 
what  the  child  was  accustomed  to,  and  she  could 
not  take  the  new  step  simply  because  the  old 
habit  was  so  strong  that  she  could  not  break 
away  from  it. 

Adults  Make  the  Same  Errors  as  Childrcfk— 
Adults  make  exactly  the  same  errors  in  principle 
that  the  child  made.  In  the  university,  mature 
men  and  women,  who  have  been  superintendents 
and  principals  of  schools,  make  errors  in  pro- 
nouncing German  and  French  which  some  of  the 
instructors  think  are  inexcusable.  The  instruc- 
tors charge  them  with  negligence,  indifference, 
and  even  stupidity — the  same  sort  of  charges 
that  the  mother  brought  against  her  child.  These 
men  and  women  pronounce  a  foreign  word  ac- 
cording to  the  nearest  English  pronunciation. 
We  all  tend  to  do  now  as  we  have  previously 
done — in  speech,  in  conduct,  in  musical  execu- 
tion, and  so  on,  and  teachers  cannot  correct  our 
habits  merely  by  condemning  us,  and  likening  us 
to  dummies  or  idiots. 

Another  Example  of  Bad  Teaching. — Here  is 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  239 

another  example  of  a  mother's  teaching.  A  child, 
eleven  years  of  age,  was  taking  her  first  steps  in 
musical  execution  with  both  hands.  She  was  try- 
ing a  piece  which  required  new  finger  movements. 
She  had  had  her  first  lessons  with  a  music 
teacher,  but  her  mother  was  now  trying  to  carry 
her  forAvard.  The  mother  did  not  have  much 
time  for  these  lessons,  and  she  was  easily  an- 
noyed at  her  child's  mistakes.  The  last  lesson 
I  observed,  I  heard  her  say:  ^^Why  don't  you 
use  your  thumb  when  you  play  that?  You  get 
all  tangled  up  because '  you  don 't  use  the  right 
fingering.  If  you  would  just  put  your  mind  on  it, 
you  could  do  that.  You  made  the  same  mistake 
yesterday,  and  I  talked  to  you  about  it.  Now  try 
again. ' ' 

To  talk  much  to  a  child  who  makes  mistakes 
in  finger  movement  is  apt  to  be  worse  than  use- 
less. If  you  who  are  reading  these  lines  have 
never  reflected  on  this  matter,  suppose  you  make 
an  experiment  on  yourself.  Take  a  lesson  or 
two  in  some  game  you  do  not  play — golf,  tennis, 
billiards,  or  anything  of  the  kind.  Suppose  you 
are  taking  your  first  lesson  in  golf.  You  look  at 
the  instructor  grasp  his  club,  secure  his  stance, 
go  through  his  swing,  and  strike  the  ball.  It 
looks  easy  to  you,  and  you  take  the  club — and  do 
nothing  just  the  way  the  instructor  did  it,  though 
you  thought  you  could  do  everything  precisely 
the   same   way.     Why   can   you   not   do    exactly 


240  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

what  lie  did?  In  the  first  place,  you  do  not  see 
exactly  what  he  does — how  he  grasps  his  clnb, 
how  he  swings  it,  and  what  he  does  when  the 
club  strikes  the  ball.  You  see  these  acts  in  only 
a  very  general  way.  You  miss  all  the  really 
essential  points.  Sufficient  evidence  of  this  is 
found  in  what  happens  when  you  try  to  strike 
the  ball. 

Now  let  your  instructor  scold  you  for  your 
carelessness,  indifference  and  stupidity.  Then 
try  it  again.  You  will  do  worse  than  you  did  the 
first  time,  if  this  be  possible.  Suppose  your  in- 
structor stands  off  and  says:  **Take  the  club  in 
the  right  way,  keep  your  body  in  the  right  posi- 
tion,^' and  so  on.  Will  you  know  what  he  is 
talking  about?  You  will  not.  Furthermore,  you 
will  become  confused,  irritated  and  discouraged. 
You  will  collapse  under  the  criticism  and  no 
good  will  come  from  it.  The  situation  is  the 
same  in  principle  as  when  you  try  to  teach  your 
child  fingering  on  the  piano,  and  you  talk  about 
it  and  complain  when  it  is  not  done  right. 

Suppose  your  golf  instructor,  instead  of  talk- 
ing to  you,  should  take  your  hands  and  place 
them  on  your  club  properly,  and  without  any 
comments  whatever.  You  would  then  catch  your 
cue.  You  could  learn  in  this  way  how  to  place 
your  hands  better  in  one  minute  than  you  could 
in  a  w^hole  day's  mere  talk  from  the  instructor. 
Then  suppose  he  actually  assists  you  to  make  the 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  241 

swing  SO  that  you  get  the  feel  of  it;  and  then 
when  you  get  the  feel  of  it,  he  permits  you  to  do 
it  yourself.  Again  you  catch  the  cue  easily.  He 
probably  never  could  assist  you  much  by  simply 
talking  to  you.  You  could  not  translate  Avhat  he 
was  saying  into  action.  You  would  keep  on 
blundering,  and  the  more  he  talked  and  scolded, 
the  worse  off  you  would  be. 

Children  Will  Often  Correct  Their  Oivn  Errors. 
—  A  novice  often  realizes  that  he  makes  errors 
in  what  he  is  learning,  and  he  would  correct  them 
himself  if  his  teacher  would  quietly  give  him  the 
right  suggestion,  or  would  let  him  alone  alto- 
gether. This  is  especially  true  in  I'espect  to 
errors  in  musical  execution.  If  the  parent  would 
simply  lift  a  finger,  say,  when  the  child  makes 
an  error  he  would  go  over  the  difficult  part  again 
and  try  to  correct  it.  Even  when  a  novice  un- 
derstands what  to  do,  the  chances  are  that  he 
will  make  an  error  in  execution.  If  he  could  do 
it  right  with  certainty,  he  would  not  be  a  novice 
at  all.  He  would  be  an  expert  then,  and  he  would 
not  need  a  teacher. 

There  is  a  vast  amount  of  waste  of  time, 
energy,  and  temper  in  the  teaching  of  music. 
Think  of  what  it  means  to  require  a  child  to 
practice  year  after  year  for  five  or  six  years  and 
in  the  end  to  be  unable  to  execute  any  music  of 
importance.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  those 
who  teach  cannot  take  the  point  of  view  of  the 


242  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

novice.  They  cannot  diagnose  the  learner's  diffi- 
culties and  assist  him  over  them  in  the  most 
economical  way.  Even  experienced  music  teach- 
ers are  often  impatient,  even  irritable,  and  criti- 
cise children  so  that  they  come  away  from  a 
lesson  crying.  This  is  about  the  best  way  to 
defeat  the  purpose  of  instruction. 

DonH  Get  Angry. —  Consider  this:  If  your 
child  is  afraid  of  you;  if  he  breaks  down  while 
he  is  taking  his  lesson;  if  he  says  to  you  at  the 
beginning  of  the  lesson,  ^* Please  don't  get  angry 
if  i  don't  do  it  right.  I  will  do  the  best  I  can," 
then  you  are  seriously  at  fault.  If  you  are  set- 
ting out  to  teach  a  child,  it  is  your  problem  to 
lead  him  without  irritation  and  without  waste  of 
time  or  energy  to  master  what  you  are  to  teach 
him.  If  he  does  not  progress  as  rapidly  as  you 
think  he  ought  to,  it  is  your  problem  to  locate  the 
difficulty  and  overcome  it.  It  does  not  cut  any 
ice  for  you  to  blame  him.  If  you  were  beginning 
the  study  of  Chinese,  and  some  one  who  under- 
stood it  simply  flung  at  you,  and  then  blamed  you 
because  you  could  not  master  it,  you  would  think 
he  was  very  crude  and  inefficient.  Isn't  it  the 
same  situation  precisely  when  you  are  trying  to 
teach  a  novice  a  thing  which  you  know  and  he 
does  not,  and  you  spend  your  time  criticising 
him?  Put  yourself  in  his  place  and  you  will  be 
likely  to  be  more  considerate  of  his  difficulties 
when  you  are  teaching  him. 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  243 

II 

Teaching  Etiquette  at  Table. —  What  has  been 
said  in  regard  to  the  teaching  of  music  applies 
to  the  teaching  of  everything.  Recently  a  mother 
was  observed  instructing  her  five-year-old  boy 
how  to  hold  his  knife  and  fork  at  table.  He  had 
become  accustomed  to  grasp  them  in  the  way  in 
which  he  could  manage  them  best,  but  his  mother 
wanted  him  to  hold  them  in  a  more  refined  way. 
He  was  at  one  end  of  the  table,  and  she  sat  at 
the  other.  She  said:  **I  would  like  to  have  you 
take  them  this  way''  (showing  him  how  she  took 
them  herself).  ^'This  is  the  way  that  nice  peo- 
ple hold  them.^'  He  looked  at  her  and  made  an 
attempt  to  imitate  her  but  blundered.  She  said 
again:  ^'Do  as  I  do.  Just  take  them  in  this 
way''  (showing  again).  ^^ Can't  you  see  how  I 
do  it?"  He  looked  but  he  could  not  ^'see,"  and 
he  did  not  do  as  she  did.  The  mother  was  dis- 
turbed and  somewhat  critical  because  she  thought 
that  what  she  wanted  her  child  to  do  was  very 
simple.  It  was  for  her;  but  it  was  just  as  diffi- 
cult for  her  boy  as  it  would  be  for  her  to  pitch 
a  curved  ball  simply  by  looking  at  a  man  who 
did  it.  Suppose  a  baseball  expert  should  have 
said  to  her:  ^'Now  look  at  me  and  pitch  this  ball 
just  as  I  do,  and  it  will  curve  just  as  you  see 
mine  doing."  She  would  not  have  thought  her- 
self stupid  if  she  could  not  have  done  it.     Isn't 


244  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

it  rather  remarkable  that  we  are  apt  to  think  any 
one  is  stupid  who  cannot  do  the  simple  things 
we  can  do,  but  we  never  think  we  are  dull  our- 
selves when  we  cannot  do  what  other  people  think 
is  simple! 

If  the  mother  had  gone  to  the  child,  taken  his 
hand  and  put  the  knife  and  fork  in  the  proper 
position,  saying  never  a  word,  she  would  have 
been  able  to  teach  him  without  loss  of  time, 
energy,  or  patience.  But  unfortunately  the  ten- 
dency of  all  of  us  in  a  situation  like  this  is  to 
use  words,  words,  words.  Every  parent  and 
teacher  should  make  a  conscious  effort  to  control 
this  trait  of  human  nature. 

Ill 

Kindergarten  Methods  in  the  Home. —  There 
are  millions  of  homes  in  this  country  that  are 
not  within  reach  of  any  public  or  private  kinder- 
garten. The  children  in  these  homes  usually  have 
to  get  along  as  best  they  can  in  a  haphazard  way 
until  they  enter  a  primary  or  district  school  at  the 
age  of  six.  Unfortunately  the  majority  of  homes 
are  not  equipped  so  they  can  provide  for  all  the 
mental  requirements  of  a  child  during  his  first 
four  or  five  years,  and  a  considerable  part  of  his 
time  is  wasted.  Children  who  attend  a  well- 
conducted  kindergarten  have  a  great  advantage 
over  those  who  have  no  facilities  except  such  as 


HO:\rE  INSTRUCTION  245 

are  afforded  by  the  typical  home  which  has  not 
taken  special  pains  to  meet  the  needs  of  young 
children.  But  it  is  possible  to  introduce  some 
of  the  features  of  the  kindergarten  into  any  home 
so  that  young  children  may  have  the  benefit  of 
kindergarten  training  even  if  they  cannot  attend 
a  kindergarten  school.  Only  rarely  can  a  home  be 
a  complete  substitute  for  a  good  kindergarten, 
however,  for  the  reason  that  a  young  child  will 
receive  valuable  training  from  cooperating  with 
children  of  his  own  age,  and  this  cannot  be  done 
in  his  home  unless  children  from  outside  are 
brought  in.  But  when  he  cannot  be  sent  to  a 
kindergarten,  then  the  next  best  thing  is  to  make 
use  so  far  as  possible  of  kindergarten  methods 
in  the  home. 

The  First  Requirement  in  Kindergarten  Meth- 
ods.—  The  first  requirement  in  employing  kinder- 
garten methods  in  the  home  is  for  the  mother 
to  appreciate  the  importance  of  the  spontaneous 
activities  of  the  child.  The  kindergarten  aims 
primarily  to  direct  the  child  ^s  play  and  to  fur- 
nish him  opportunities  to  express  his  natural  in- 
terests more  fully  than  he  could  otherwise  do. 
The  kindergarten  provides  for  the  children  vari- 
ous kinds  of  materials,  or  as  they  are  sometimes 
still  called — ^* gifts,''  but  they  are  in  reality  ob- 
jects designed  to  enable  the  child  to  indulge  his 
play  impulses  in  agreeable  and  educative  ways. 
A  mother  who  can  secure  all  these  materials  for 


246  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

her  home  will  always  have  at  hand  suitable  means 
to  gratify  the  child's  passion  to  have  something 
to  do.  The  kindergarten  materials,  supplemented 
by  the  equipment  of  the  home  and  the  playground, 
provide  for  a  variety  of  activities,  and  so  with 
occasional  suggestions  a  child  can  throughout 
each  day  be  kept  occupied  in  interesting  and 
wholesome  and  profitable  ways. 

If  the  mother  cannot  purchase  the  kindergarten 
materials  she  can  make  fairly  good  substitutes. 
Sand  and  modelling  clay  occupy  an  important 
place  in  a  good  modern  kindergarten.  A  three- 
year-old  child  mil  be  delighted  simply  in  shovel- 
ing it  into  a  pail  and  emptying  it,  or  merely  dig- 
ging in  it,  or  pawing  it,  or  lying  down  in  it  and 
covering  his  toes  with  it,  and  so  on.  But  as  he 
develops  he  will  become  interested  in  construct- 
ing rough  designs  in  the  sand — it  may  be  a  cave 
or  a  tunnel  or  a  road  or  some  other  similar 
thing.  In  the  same  way  a  child  of  three  will  fiind 
much  pleasure  in  handling  the  modelling  clay  for 
the  feel  of  it.  He  will  not  be  interested  in  model- 
ling any  definite  objects,  but  by  the  time  he 
reaches  his  fifth  birthday  he  will  be  much  inter- 
ested in  modelling  objects  in  imitation  of  what 
he  sees  around  him. 

The  Ball. —  In  every  kindergarten  the  ball 
plays  an  important  part.  Froebel  assigned  high 
intellectual  value  to  the  use  of  the  sphere  or  the 
ball  because  he  thought  that  many  of  the  forms 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  247 

of  nature  were  based  on  the  pattern  of  the 
sphere.  We  think  to-day  that  he  over-emphasized 
the  symbolic  value  of  the  sphere,  but  we  attach 
greater  importance  to  the  use  of  the  ball  in  play 
than  he  did.  From  the  cradle  to  the  grave  almost 
the  ball  in  some  form  ministers  to  the  needs  of 
childhood,  youth,  and  adulthood.  The  three-year- 
old  will  take  delight  in  rolling  the  ball,  tossing  it 
here  and  there,  and  especially  in  bounding  it. 

The  ''Gifts/'— The  ''gifts''  in  the  kindergar- 
ten comprise  blocks  of  different  shapes  and  sizes. 
It  should  be  an  easy  task  for  any  home  to  secure 
a  big  box  of  blocks.  They  can  be  made  by  any- 
one who  can  use  a  saw  and  can  secure  a  piece  of 
timber,  which  should  be  at  least  four  inches  wide 
and  two  inches  thick  and  long  enough  to  make 
eight  or  ten  blocks  two  inches  long,  and  the  same 
number  six  inches  long,  and  eight  inches  long. 
The  timber  should  be  planed  smooth  so  that  the 
blocks  can  be  handled  by  children  without  danger 
of  getting  splinters  in  the  skin.  With  these 
blocks  children  will  be  kept  occupied  in  an  inter- 
esting way  for  hours  every  day.  The  three-year- 
old  children  will  pile  them  up  and  tumble  them 
over  repeatedly  until  they  begin  to  be  fatigued. 
Then  they  can  turn  to  their  sand  or  their  ball  or 
other  materials  and  use  them  in  imitation  of  what 
they  see  about  them.  The  greater  the  variety  of 
shapes  and  sizes  of  blocks  which  they  have,  the 
greater  will   be   the  possibility   of   constructing 


248  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

various  kinds  of  buildings.  They  will  keep  up 
their  building  activity  long  after  the  age  of  ^ve 
provided  they  have  a  sufficient  variety  of  blocks 
to  indulge  their  developing  interests. 

In  any  good  kindergarten  one  will  find  wooden 
beads  for  stringing.  These  beads  may  be  of  dif- 
ferent sizes  and  shapes  and  colors.  They  must  be 
large  enough  so  that  they  can  be  strung  without 
nervous  strain.  Formerly  children  were  com- 
pelled to  string  small  beads  and  thread  needles 
with  small  eyes,  but  that  kind  of  work  has  been 
completely  abandoned  in  kindergartens  and  it 
should  never  be  required  in  the  home.  It  should 
be  an  easy  matter  for  a  mother  who  can  not  pur- 
chase these  beads  to  have  square  ones  made.  A 
saw,  a  piece  of  wood,  and  a  bit  and  brace  are  all 
that  are  required. 

Another  piece  of  apparatus  found  in  the 
kindergarten  is  a  board  containing  a  hundred 
holes  into  which  pegs  may  be  fitted.  Various  de- 
signs can  be  worked  out  on  the  board  by  arrang- 
ing the  pegs  in  different  ways.  The  pegs  may  be 
plain  or  colored.  Any  mother  can  appreciate 
what  fascination  such  a  board  would  have  for  a 
child  four  or  five  years  of  age,  and  how  educa- 
tional it  could  be  made.  All  that  will  be  re- 
quired in  order  to  make  it  of  value  will  be  for 
the  mother  to  give  the  child  a  few  suggestions 
from  time  to  time  for  new  designs  that  can  be 
worked  out  on  the  board. 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  249 

Of  course  every  well-conducted  kindergarten 
has  toys  such  as  rubber  dogs,  horses  and  the  like, 
and  these  are  used  for  dramatizing  stories.  For 
girls  there  are  always  simple  dolls  with  which 
children  can  do  many  things  that  every  mother 
well  understands.' 

Constructive  Activities. —  The  kindergarten 
gives  a  large  place  to  constructive  activities,  such 
as  making  doll  houses  out  of  paper,  for  instance. 
Also,  the  children  have  sticks  which  they  lay  in 
various  forms  so  as  to  build  barns  and  fences 
and  construct  trees  and  furniture  and  imple- 
ments. They  have  crayons  and  paints  with  which 
they  make  pictures  and  color  them,  and  they  make 
designs  in  forms  and  in  colors.  They  have  scis- 
sors and  cut  out  paper  to  illustrate  stories,  as 
'^The  Three  Bears''  and  *'Eed  Hiding  Hood,'' 
and  so  on.  They  cut  fruit  forms  out  of  paper. 
In  a  good  kindergarten  children  learn  how  to 
tear  paper,  too,  so  as  to  make  various  forms. 
In  this  way,  they  can  make  trees,  houses,  sail- 
boats, and  so  on. 

A  resourceful  mother  could  have  all  these  mate- 
rials in  her  home.  They  are  inexpensive  and 
with  a  little  direction  she  could  help  her  children 
to  do  most  of  the  things  that  are  done  in  a 
kindergarten — probably  not  as  well  as  they  are 
done  in  a  good  kindergarten,  but  still  they  could 
be  done  well  enough  to  keep  the  children  inter- 
ested and  to  give  them  helpful  experience  in  con- 


250  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

stnicting  objects  and  dramatizing  every-day  ac- 
tivities. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  fundamental  purpose  of  the  kindergarten  is 
to  provide  opportunities  for  the  child  to  be  self- 
active  in  beneficial  ways.  This  is  the  chief  point 
which  the  parent  needs  to  appreciate.  It  will 
help  any  mother  who  has  not  had  training  in  a 
kindergarten  to  read  a  good  book  on  kindergarten 
materials  and  methods  such  as  Smith's  ^^The 
Home-made  Kindergarten ' '  and  Atwood's 
** Theory  and  Practice  of  the  Kindergarten.''  It 
is  not  necessary  that  a  mother,  as  some  seem  to 
think,  should  study  the  Froebelian  philosophy 
deeply  in  order  to  appreciate  the  principles  un- 
derlying the  kindergarten  and  to  apply  them  with 
some  success  in  her  home. 

IV 

The  Kindergarten  for  Nervous  Children, — 
Mothers  are  constantly  asking  whether  the 
kindergarten  is  a  good  place  for  children  who  are 
inclined  to  be  nervous.  Usually  kindergartners 
are  well  poised  and  they  have  a  soothing  influence 
on  children.  This  is  not  always  the  case ;  but  the 
typical  kindergartner  is  apt  to  be  more  restful 
than  the  typical  mother.  Moreover,  when  a 
highly-organized  child  is  in  school  with  other 
children  who  are  not  nervous,  he  is  likely  to  be- 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  251 

come  less  nervous  himself.  Nervousness  is  a 
matter  of  suggestion  and  imitation  to  a  consider- 
able extent. 

Take  a  home  in  which  there  are  two  or  three 
children,  one  of  them  inclined  to  be  nervous.  Let 
the  mother  have  various  duties,  some  of  which 
relate  to  maintaining  the  social  status  of  the 
household  in  the  community.  The  chances  are 
she  will  be  easily  irritated,  and  will  become  over- 
solicitous  about  the  nervous  child.  This  will 
magnify  his  nervousness,  and  it  will  go  from  bad 
to  worse.  Take  such  a  child  out  of  the  home, 
and  put  him  in  a  kindergarten  with  other  chil- 
dren who  do  not  get  over-excited,  and  with  a 
teacher  who  has  herself  well  under  control,  and 
it  will  be  of  positive  benefit  to  him  from  the 
standpoint  of  allaying  nervousness. 

Then  when  a  child  is  occupied  in  an  interesting 
way,  his  nerves  will  gain  poise  and  stability. 
Many  children  are  made  nervous  because  they 
have  nothing  interesting  to  do,  and  they  are  con- 
tinually irritated.  They  get  discontented  and 
peevish,  and  they  are  apt  to  irritate  the  mother, 
and  this  will  increase  the  child's  nervousness, 
and  so  one  gets  what  the  physicians  call  a  vicious 
circuit. 

In  a  well-conducted  kindergarten  children  are 
not  over-stimulated;  they  are  not  frightened  or 
irritated ;  they  do  not  sit  a  long  time  in  one  posi- 
tion; the  spirit  in  the  room  is  wholesome  and  all 


252  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

the  experiences  of  the  children  are  normal  and 
healthful.  Of  course,  these  ideal  conditions  are 
not  found  in  every  kindergarten,  but  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  they  are  found  as  frequently  in  the 
kindergarten  as  they  are  in  the  home. 

Nervous  Children  Need  Companionship.  — 
Many  children  who  are  kept  away  from  others 
develop  self-centeredness  which  is  likely  to  pro- 
duce an  irritable,  nervous  disposition.  Further, 
unless  they  have  association  with  other  children, 
they  are  apt  to  be  self-conscious  when  they  are 
put  into  school.  The  kindergarten  is  a  more 
natural  introduction  to  school  life  than  is  the 
typical  primary  school.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
a  kindergarten  in  which  the  children  show  no 
respect  for  the  kindergartner,  and  where  they 
fall  into  the  habit  of  treating  school  work  as  a 
joke,  harm  will  be  done.  Sometimes  a  child  who 
is  in  a  kindergarten  gains  the  notion  that  he  need 
never  apply  himself  in  school,  and  especially  he 
need  not  do  anything  which  is  not  play  for  him. 
It  would  not  be  wise  to  send  a  child  to  such  a 
kindergarten.  But  where  there  is  one  kinder- 
garten like  this  in  the  public  schools  to-day  there 
are  fifty  of  a  different  character. 

Often  one  hears  the  complaint  that  the  kinder- 
garten tends  to  rob  a  child  of  his  individuality. 
But  the  first  thing  in  this  life  for  a  child  to  learn 
is  to  adapt  himself  to  others.  Where  one  child 
is  spoiled  by  being  made  too  much  like  others, 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  253 

twenty-five  are  left  unfitted  for  life  because  they 
cannot  adjust  themselves  to  others.  A  child  must 
be  much  more  responsive  to  the  people  around 
him  to-day  than  was  necessary  fifty  years  ago 
because  there  are  more  people  to  deal  with.  If 
every  person  did  as  he  pleased  and  developed  his 
idiosyncrasies  in  modern  life,  we  would  have  a 
race  of  cranks,  and  social  life  would  be  impos- 
sible. 


The  First  Steps  in  Writing. —  Ask  a  child  of 
four  to  perform  a  finely  coordinated  task,  as  writ- 
ing with  a  sharp-pointed  pen,  and  he  will  try  to 
execute  it  by  mere  force.  When  he  undertakes 
a  precise  task  like  threading  a  needle,  for  exam- 
ple, he  says  in  effect,  '  ^  This  is  very  hard.  I  must 
make  a  great  effort  to  do  it.  I  must  use  all  the 
power  I  have.'' 

When  the  adult  undertakes  a  task  like  this  he 
says :  ' '  This  requires  exact  control  of  the  fingers 
without  much  use  of  the  muscles  so  that  there  is 
no  need  to  expend  force  on  it."  When  a  well- 
developed  adult  is  writing  you  cannot  observe 
muscular  tensions  in  his  face,  or  hands,  or  even 
in  the  fingers  which  are  controlling  the  pen. 
There  is  little  muscular  effort  expended;  there  is 
simply  precise  coordination.  But  now  observe  a 
beginner,  and  you  will  often  notice  strain  not 
only  in  the  fingers  that  are  being  used,  but  also  in 


254  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

those  that  are  not  used  in  the  writing,  and  even 
in  the  muscles  in  his  feet  and  legs  and  elsewhere 
in  his  body. 

We  should  try  to  prevent  young  pupils  from 
writing  in  a  cramped  way  in  the  beginning. 
Here  is  a  device  for  accomplishing  this.  A  child 
four  years  of  age  had  been  having  short  lessons 
in  writing  for  a  few  wrecks.  She  wrote  in  the 
strained,  over-done  manner  mentioned  above.  She 
had  learned  to  write  several  words  like  ''hen," 
''wig,"  and  "pig."  When  she  was  asked  to 
write  one  of  these  she  would  grasp  her  pencil 
tightly  and  bend  over  her  paper ;  her  body  would 
become  rigid,  her  head  would  go  around  with 
her  fingers ;  and  she  would  write  slowly  and  with 
great  muscular  effort.  She  thought  ejfort  or 
force  instead  of  coordination  and  delicate  manipu- 
lation was  what  was  required. 

In  her  writing  up  to  this  time  she  had  used  a 
pencil  of  small  diameter  and  hard  lead,  which 
aggravated  the  tendency  to  squeeze  it  and  "bear 
on."  For  the  small  pencil  one  of  large  diameter 
with  soft  lead  was  substituted.  Then  the  child 
was  asked  to  hold  the  pencil  lightly  in  the  fingers. 
Taking  her  hand,  I  helped  her  to  swing  it  around 
easily  on  the  word  "hen."  Her  attention  was 
called  to  the  light  looking  line  she  had  just  made 
compared  with  the  line  she  had  been  making,  and 
said  to  her  that  we  wanted  to  make  as  light  a 
line  as  we  could.    After  we  had  together  written 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  255 

the  word  rapidly  and  lightly,  she  was  asked  to  try 
it  herself.  When  she  felt  the  full  responsibility 
of  the  task  she  was  impelled  to  squeeze  the  pencil 
and  apply  force.  But  by  taking  her  hand  again 
and  impressing  the  idea  of  tvriting  rapidly  and 
making  a  light  line  it  was  not  long  before  she 
caught  the  notion  of  rapidity  and  lightness, 
though,  of  course,  she  would  easily  slip  back  into 
her  original  tendency  to  write  slowly  and  labori- 
ously and  ^'bear  on."  We  kept  at  our  task  for 
several  minutes  each  day  for  a  few  weeks,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  experiment  the  child  could  write 
more  lightly  and  rapidly  and  with  much  less 
muscular  strain. 

It  is  best  for  a  pupil  to  write  at  the  outset  with 
crayon  or  with  pencil  of  large  diameter  and  soft 
lead.  The  smaller  the  pencil,  the  more  difficult 
it  is  for  a  novice  to  make  a  light  line  with  it,  and 
the  greater  will  be  his  tendency  to  press  in  his 
writing. 

Big  Tools  for  Small  Hands. —  Some  parents 
secure  very  small,  fragile  toys  and  tools  for  their 
youngest  children.  For  the  older  ones  they  pro- 
vide comparatively  large  blocks,  dolls  and  so  on. 
They  act  on  the  theory  that  the  small  hand  of 
the  young  child  is  suited  to  manage  only  small, 
delicate  objects,  while  the  larger  hand  of  the 
youth  is  adapted  to  the  manipulation  of  big 
things. 

The  young  child  can  manage  his  biceps  better 


256  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

than  he  can  the  tips  of  his  fingers.  The  part  of 
his  brain  that  controls  the  biceps  is  better  devel- 
oped in  a  very  small  child  than  the  part  that  con- 
trols the  adjustment  of  the  thmnb  and  fingers  to 
and  with  each  other.  The  infant  cannot  coor- 
dinate his  thumb  with  his  fingers  so  as  to  per- 
form a  fine  task.  This  is  why  we  say  that  an 
infant's  fingers  are  all  thumbs.  Observe  the 
hand  of  the  infant,  and  see  how  crude  an  instru- 
ment it  is  when  he  attempts  to  perform  a  precise 
task  with  it.  The  large,  coarse,  brawny  hand  of 
the  man  is  much  more  delicate  and  coordinated 
than  the  hand  of  the  year-old  child  when  consid- 
ered with  regard  to  the  execution  of  precise  tasks, 
such  as  threading  a  needle. 

Observe  a  six-months-old  child  trying  to  pick 
up  a  pin  or  ravelling  on  the  floor.  The  thumb 
and  fingers  will  be  managed  in  a  crude,  awkward 
way  so  that  most  children  of  this  age  cannot  pick 
up  any  small  object.  The  two-year-old  can  do 
this  better  than  the  six-months '-old  child.  If  the 
child  develops  normally,  he  can  at  the  age  of  six 
so  control  the  fingers  in  relation  to  the  thumb 
that  he  can  thread  a  needle,  say,  though  if  it  has 
a  small  eye,  he  will  have  difficulty  with  it.  The 
typical  two-year-old  child  cannot  easily  perform 
this  task  because  his  nervous  system  is  not  devel- 
oped so  that  such  highly  coordinated  actions  can 
be  executed. 

The    Child    Does    Not    Lack    Strength. —  One 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  257 

sometimes  hears  a  mother  say :  ^  ^  My  three-year- 
old  child  cannot  sew  because  he  hasn't  strength 
enough."  He  has  strength  and  plenty  of  it,  but 
he  cannot  use  it  properly  in  the  performance  of 
fine,  precise  tasks.  He  cannot  articulate  difficult 
vocal  combinations,  but  he  has  a  superabundance 
of  crude  vocal  power.  He  can  make  plenty  of 
noise,  as  any  parent  will  testify. 

A  wise  mother  will  always  surround  an  infant 
at  table  with  an  area  of  rubber  cloth,  because  she 
will  realize  that  he  cannot  carry  a  spoonful  of 
milk,  say,  to  his  mouth  without  spilling  it.  He 
has  enough  strength  to  do  this,  but  he  cannot 
control  its  use  so  as  to  perform  so  delicate  a  task. 
No  mother  would  let  a  two-year-old  handle  a 
sharp  razor.  He  may  realize  that  he  should  be 
careful  or  he  wdll  cut  himself,  but  he  lacks  the 
fine  control  or  coordination  necessary  to  use 
edged  tools  with  precision.  Numberless  illustra- 
tions of  this  principle  might  be  cited. 

Conditions  That  Prevent  Coordination.  — 
Feeble-minded  persons  never  develop  a  high  de- 
gree of  coordination.  A  man  may  be  thirty  years 
of  age  physically,  but  he  may  have  a  hand  that 
is  crude,  uncoordinated,  and  incapable  of  execut- 
ing any  precise  task.  He  may  be  as  strong  as  an 
ox  in  his  biceps,  but  as  uncoordinated  and  non- 
precise  as  an  infant  in  his  actions.  Control  of 
the  hand  so  that  a  great  variety  of  delicate  ad- 
justments  may  be  made  is   impossible  without 


258  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

full  development  of  the  nervous  system  and  of 
the  intelligence. 

It  is  significant  to  note  that  when  a  mam  be- 
comes drunk  he  loses  the  coordination  of  his  fin- 
gers and  his  tongue.  Alcohol  attacks  the  highest 
nervous  centers  first,  those  that  control  the  most 
coordinated  or  accessory  muscular  activities.  The 
drunken  man  may  have  his  biceps  and  fist  under 
control  so  that  he  can  fight  as  well  as  ever,  but 
he  may  not  be  able  to  hold  a  pen  in  his  fingers 
so  that  he  can  write.  As  he  is  getting  drunk  he 
spills  his  whiskey,  because  he  cannot  coordinate 
his  fingers  so  that  he  can  hold  his  glass  securely. 
He  falls  back  speedily  to  the  uncoordinated  con- 
dition of  infancy. 

The  Child  Should  Not  Be  Pushed  in  the  De- 
velopment of  Coordination. —  In  order  that  the 
child  may  develop  coordination  properly  he 
should  not  be  crowded  too  fast  in  the  manipula- 
tion of  small  tools  of  any  sort — those  demanding 
precise  adjustments.  A  child  of  three  or  even 
four  or  five  or  six  years  who  is  required  to  thread 
a  needle  frequently  will  probably  be  over-taxed 
by  it.  Observe  him  and  you  will  notice  undue 
strain  and  tension  in  his  face  and  body.  There 
is  evidence  to  show  that  children  who  are  made  to 
sew  at  the  age  of  four  or  five  are  injured  in  their 
nervous  development.  It  will  be  better  for  a 
young  child  to  be  using  a  hammer  or  saw  or  plane 
or  to  be  running,  jumping,   throwing,   and   the 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  259 

like,  than  to  be  sewing,  or  weaving  with  raffia, 
or  anything  of  the  kind. 

When  children  begin  school  at  the  age  of  five, 
teachers  sometimes  require  them  to  write  with 
pens  or  hard  pencils.  This  is  likely  to  injure 
them.  If  nothing  worse,  it  will  waste  their  nerv- 
ous energy,  because  they  always  overdo  a  task  of 
this  kind.  Young  children  can  write  without 
strain  with  chalk  in  large,  free  movements  from 
five  to  ten  times  as  long  as  they  can  write  with 
a  pen  or  a  hard  lead  pencil. 

Often  parents  provide  penholders  with  small 
metal  grips  for  their  children.  Observe  a  young 
child  using  such  a  pen,  and  you  will  see  that  he 
can  manage  it  only  with  strain  and  tension.  He 
will  soon  become  fatigued  because  the  task  de- 
mands too  great  coordination.  It  would  be  bet- 
ter for  him  if  he  did  not  write  with  a  pen  until 
his  seventh  or  eighth  year,  and  even  then  he 
should  use  one  with  a  large  cork  grip  and  a  blunt 
point. 

Children  who  are  required  to  read  books  with 
very  fine  print  are  apt  to  waste  nervous  energy, 
and  they  may  develop  eye  strain.  The  use  of  a 
microscope  for  hours  each  day  by  high-school 
pupils  is  likely  to  overtax  the  muscles  of  accom- 
modation. The  principle  is  universal  in  its  ap- 
plication to  all  the  work  of  pupils  in  the  elemen- 
tary or  the  high  school, — that  whatever  work 
requires    the   child   or   the   youth   to    coordinate 


260  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

beyond  liis  stage  of  development  frequently  and 
for  long  periods  mil  probably  injure  him. 

The  moral  is — a  young  child  should  have  large 
tools  and  toys  and  perform  only  general  and 
relatively  uncoordinated  actions.  As  he  develops 
let  his  tools  and  his  activities  become  smaller  and 
more  precise  until  by  the  time  he  reaches  matur- 
ity, he  should  be  able  to  use  accurately  imple- 
ments requiring  a  high  degree  of  coordination 
and  precise  adjustments.  ' 


VI 


In  the  World  of  Make  Believe. —  A  group  of 
children  about  five  years  of  age  were  observed 
playing  in  a  nursery  this  morning.  One  of  the 
children  was  a  ^'kindergartener"  and  the  others 
were  pupils.  There  was  no  kindergarten  mate- 
rial, no  desks,  no  piano,  no  flowers;  in  short, 
there  was  no  kindergarten  equipment  in  the 
nursery.  But  those  children  did  about  every- 
thing that  is  ordinarily  done  in  a  kindergarten. 
The  first  event  on  the  program  was  a  march. 
One  girl  went  over  to  the  window-sill  and  began 
drumming  on  it  with  her  fingers.  The  *' kinder- 
gartener" said,  ''Now  listen  to  the  piano,  and 
before  you  begin  to  march  get  in  step."  Then 
she  used  her  hand  as  a  baton,  and  said,  "You  can 
all  hear  the  music,  can't  you!  This  is  the  best 
music  we  have  had.    Miss  H —  is  a  fine  player." 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  261 

So  the  children  marched  around  in  step  to  the 
*^ music."  They  were  entirely  in  earnest;  so 
were  the  ''pianist"  and  the  ''kindergartener." 
After  they  had  marched  a  while  the  "kinder- 
gartener" called  out,  "Miss  H— ,  you  may  stop 
playing."  Then  she  said,  "Children,  you  may 
all  take  your  seats  at  the  table  and  you  may  make 
any  animals  you  wish  with  your  plasticine." 
The  children  squatted  doAvn  on  the  floor  and  be- 
gan making  movements  as  though  they  were  actu- 
ally modelling  plasticine,  though  they  did  not 
have  any  material  whatever.  After  a  little  time 
spent  in  "modelling"  one  child  held  up  her  hand 
and  said,  "Look  at  what  a  big  rabbit  I  have 
made."  She  had  put  her  fingers  in  a  position 
that  she  thought  suggested  a  rabbit.  In  a  moment 
another  child  held  up  her  hand  and  said,  "Look 
at  my  squirrel."  So  it  went  on  until  every  child 
had  "modelled"  some  animal.  The  children  were 
all  serious  and  the  "kindergartener"  praised  or 
criticised  the  animals  shown  her. 

After  about  ten  minutes  the  "piano"  was 
sounded  again.  The  children  got  up  and  went 
through  another  "march."  Then  they  passed  to 
the  "tables"  and  began  making  designs  with 
their  "splints."  First  one  child  and  then  an- 
other would  ask  the  "kindergartener"  to  look 
at  the  design  that  had  been  made,  tracing  on  the 
floor  with  the  fingers  to  attract  attention  to  it. 
They  went  on  this  way  for  an  hour  or  more, 


262  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

dramatizing  the  kindergarten.  They  appeared  to 
be  about  as  well  satisfied  as  if  they  had  all  the 
furnishings  and  equipment  found  in  a  well- 
arranged  kindergarten. 

The  Child  Dramatizes  the  Life  Around  Him, — 
The  incident  is  typical  of  a  normal  child  ^s  life 
up  to  the  tenth  or  even  the  twelfth  year.  Always 
he  is  dramatizing  the  life  about  him;  always  he 
is  playing  a  part.  The  whole  world  is  a  stage 
and  he  is  the  chief  player  on  it.  Everything  is 
or  may  become  something  else  to  him.  Any 
reader  who  needs  to  have  his  memory  refreshed 
regarding  the  make-believe  of  the  child  and  espe- 
cially his  passion  for  what  the  psychologists  call 
'^symbolism'' — which  is  the  process  of  men- 
tally transforming  an  object  into  something  en- 
tirely different  from  what  it  actually  is  and 
assuming  an  attitude  toward  it  and  using  it  as 
though  it  were  the  thing  it  is  imagined  to  be — 
should  read  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's  ^^A  Child's 
Garden  of  Verses,''  or  Eugene  Field's  or  James 
Whitcomb  Riley's  poems  and  stories  of  child- 
hood. 

The  Love  of  Symbolism. — The  child's  love  of 
symbolism  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  trait  which  often 
disturbs  parents.  When  he  comes  in  from  the 
street  and  tells  his  mother  that  he  saw  a  bear 
run  past  the  house  and  he  persists  in  his  **fib," 
the  mother  may  feel  that  he  is  telling  a  lie.  The 
fact  is  he  may  have  seen  a  cat  or  a  dog  run  past 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  263 

the  house  and  his  fancy  transformed  it  into  a 
bear.  Bears  were  in  his  mind.  He  may  have 
heard  a  bear  story  in  the  morning  and  he  may 
have  played  he  was  a  bear  during  the  day;  con- 
sequently his  consciousness  was  filled  with  bears, 
so  almost  anything  he  saw  could  be  easily  inter- 
preted to  be  a  bear.  A  child  often  can  hardly 
discriminate  between  what  he  imagines  and  what 
he  actually  sees  or  hears  in  the  world  about  him. 
It  is  undoubtedly  the  case  that  frequently  a 
child  ^s  fancies  are  stronger  than  his  observa- 
tions and  he  sees  what  is  in  his  mind  and  not 
what  is  presented  from  without. 

The  reality  of  vivid  dreams  in  adult  life  re- 
sembles the  phenomenon  of  vivid  fancies  in  child- 
hood. An  adult  may  awaken  from  a  dream  and 
be  unable  to  tell  whether  he  has  had  an  actual 
experience  or  only  an  imaginary  one.  Even 
grown  people  often  awaken  in  night  terror  and 
imagine  that  they  see  terrible  creatures  about 
them;  but  the  creatures  exist  only  in  their  dis- 
ordered fancy. 

As  a  child  grows  older  he  should  normally 
bring  the  pictures  of  his  fancy  under  control,  so 
that  he  can  distinguish  between  what  comes  in 
through  his  senses  on  the  one  side  and  what 
arises  in  his  imagination  on  the  other.  The 
ten-year-old  child  may  and  usually  does  live  in  a 
make-believe  world  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
but  he  should  be  able  to  tell  the  difference  be- 


264  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

tween  make-believe  situations  and  real  ones, 
thougli  it  is  too  much  to  expect  that  he  will  be 
entirely  accurate  in  reporting  his  experiences  or 
the  objects  he  sees.  Indeed,  most  adults  can- 
not report  what  they  see  or  what  happens  to  them 
with  absolute  accuracy,  provided  that  they  are  in 
any  way  personally  interested  in  or  affected  by 
the  objects  or  the  events  which  they  attempt  to 
describe. 

Training  in  Accurate  Reporting. —  A  parent 
who  has  a  four-  or  five-  or  six-year-old  child  who 
lives  in  a  make-believe  world  most  of  the  time 
need  not  be  apprehensive  that  he  will  never  be 
able  to  see  and  report  things  as  they  are  and 
events  as  they  occur.  At  the  same  time,  it  is 
desirable  when  a  child  reaches  the  age  of  five  or 
six,  and  increasingly  as  he  grows  older,  that  he 
should  be  helped  to  give  an  accurate  report  con- 
cerning some  of  the  objects  he  sees  and  what 
happens  about  him.  When  he  starts  to  school 
and  has  lessons  in  arithmetic  and  nature  study 
and  geography  and  manual  activities  he  should 
be  required  then  carefully  to  distinguish  between 
what  he  fancies  and  what  he  actually  sees  or  ex- 
periences. There  will  be  little  danger  if  he  has 
good  instruction  that  he  will  go  up  into  the  teens 
thinking  that  imaginary  objects  and  happenings 
are  real  and  report  them  as  such;  if  he  does  do 
this  his  case  is  a  special  one  and  he  should  be 
given  special  attention. 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  265 

VII 

Dramatics  for  Children. —  Every  normal  child 
is  an  imitator  before  he  becomes  original  in  any 
waking  life  dramatizing  what  he  has  observed  in 
waking  life  dramatizing  what  he  has  observed  in 
the  people  or  the  animals  around  him.  This  is 
the  way  he  learns.  If  he  did  not  imitate  in  this 
manner,  he  would  be  an  imbecile.  When  he  imi- 
tates his  mother  making  pies,  he  learns  how  to 
do  the  thing,  and  so  he  understands  it.  When 
he  copies  the  actions  of  a  bear — lapping  up  his 
food  and  growling  at  the  people  who  speak  to 
him — he  is  learning  the  beards  characteristics. 
When  he  gets  the  bear's  personality  thoroughly 
in  his  system  he  will  take  up  a  new  imitation — a 
horse,  a  dog,  a  teacher,  a  preacher,  or  some  other 
object.  The  more  of  these  objects  he  copies,  the 
more  rapidly  he  will  learn  the  world  around  him, 
and  also  the  better  he  will  learn  it. 

A  parent  who  would  prevent  his  children  from 
dramatizing  practically  everything  that  goes  on 
around  them  would  interfere  with  their  develop- 
ment. Instead  of  preventing  them  he  should 
encourage  them  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  their 
dramatizations.  There  ought  to  be  opportunities 
to  have  dramatics  in  the  home  and  in  the  school. 
It  should  be  the  object  in  these  dramatics  to  give 
children  a  large  variety  of  models  to  emulate  and 
characters  to  personate. 


266  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 

A  group  of  children  spent  several  months 
dramatizing  some  of  the  Greek  stories  in  which 
the  characters  were  gods  and  goddesses.  These 
children  know  more  to-day  about  the  character- 
istics of  the  Greek  mythological  characters  than 
do  their  fathers  and  mothers,  and  they  will  not 
forget  them.  Once  a  child  has  played  the  part  of 
Jupiter,  say,  he  will  remember  the  character  as 
long  as  he  lives.  In  all  up-to-date  schools  chil- 
dren have  an  opportunity  to  take  part  in  dram- 
atics ;  and  much  of  what  is  studied  in  history  and 
literature  is  dramatized.  Take  the  story  of 
Columbus,  for  instance,  before  the  court  of  Spain, 
crossing  the  Atlantic,  dealing  with  the  natives  in 
the  new  country,  and  so  on.  These  situations  can 
all  be  represented  by  children  with  readiness; 
and  when  they  act  out  one  of  these  scenes,  they 
gain  a  clear  impression  of  the  facts  they  should 
learn.  They  are  usually  very  much  interested  in 
this  activity,  and  they  carefully  study  their  char- 
acters and  the  customs  of  the  time  in  order  that 
they  may  play  their  parts  well.  What  a  child 
acquires  in  this  manner  is  apt  to  abide  with  him 
to  the  end  of  his  days. 

There  is  another  point  of  importance.  An 
adult  who  has  never  had  any  experience  in  play- 
ing a  part  is  likely  to  be  stiff,  embarrassed  and 
self-conscious  if  he  personates  any  one  else.  He 
is  afraid  to  abandon  his  own  narrow  personality. 
Such  a  person  is  inclined  to  be  exceedingly  re- 


HOME  INSTRUCTION  267 

stricted  in  his  activities.  He  does  not  get  as  much 
out  of  life  or  give  as  much  to  others  as  do  people 
whose  personalities  are  more  plastic  and  pliable. 
For  this  reason,  if  for  no  other,  children  should 
have  opportunities  to  take  an  active  part  in 
dramatization.  If  an  opportunity  be  presented 
early  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  urge  the  normal 
child  to  take  an  interest  in  such  work  because  it 
is  his  nature  to  do  so.  If  he  has  no  chance  to  do 
any  of  it  until  he  has  entered  his  teens,  however, 
he  may  be  so  self-conscious  that  he  will  not  enjoy 
it  and  he  may  not  gain  much  value  from  it. 


CHAPTER  IX 

BOOKS  ON  CHILD  TRAINING 

The  following  books  are  designed  for  persons 
who  are  responsible  for  the  care  and  culture  of 
the  young.  They  have  been  selected  from  a  large 
amount  of  literature  dealing  with  child  nature 
and  education  primarily  because  of  their  modern 
view-point,  even  though  a  few  of  them  were  writ- 
ten long  ago,  and  also  because  of  their  concrete, 
simple,  and  attractive  method  of  discussing  the 
topics  which  they  treat.  Most  of  them  can  be 
read  with  profit  and  pleasure  by  teachers  and 
parents  who  have  not  pursued  courses  in  psychol- 
ogy and  related  sciences,  and  these  are  designated 
by  stars.  The  books  have  been  grouped  accord- 
ing to  the  phases  of  child  nature  and  education 
to  which  they  severally  give  special  attention; 
but  this  grouping  is  only  approximately  accurate, 
since,  while  the  majority  of  the  books  treat  one 
phase  of  child  life  and  education  in  particular, 
they  nevertheless  give  some  attention  to  other 
phases. 

268 


BOOKS  ON  CHILD  TRAINING 


269 


A  GENERAL  VIEW  OP  CHILD  NATURE  AND  EDUCATION 


*Abbott 

*Birney 

*Fisher 

*Forbush 

*Gillman 

*Groszmann 

*Gruenberg 

*Gruenberg 

*Hallam 

♦Harrison 

Jacoby 

*Key 

Kirkpatrick 

*Loti 
*Marenholtz- 

Biilow 
*Winterbum 


On  tbe  Training  of  Par- 
ents 
The     Child     in     Home, 

School  and  State 
Mothers  and  Children 
The  Coming  Generation 
Concerning  Children 
The  Career  of  the  Child 
Sons  and  Daughters 
Your  Child  To-day  and 

To-morrow 
Studies    in    Child    De- 
velopment 
A  Study  of  Child  Nature 
from    the    Kindergar- 
ten Standpoint 
Child    Training    as    an 

Exact  Science 
The     Centurj'     of     the 

Child 
The    Individual    in   the 

Making 
The  Story  of  a  Child 
The  Child  and  Child  Na- 
ture 
From  the  Child's  Stand- 
point 

B 


Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

National   Congress    of 

Mothers 
Henry  Holt  &  Co. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
Small,  Maynard  &  Co. 
Badger 

Henry  Holt  &  Co. 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Co. 

Row,  Peterson  &  Co. 

Chicago     Kindegarten 
College 

Funk  and  Wagnalls 

G.  P.  Putnam  Sons 

Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

C.  C.  Berchard  &  Co. 
Swan,       Sonnenschein 

Co. 
Baker  &  Taylor 


PHYSICAL   DEVELOPMENT  AND  WELFARE 

Ginn  &  Company 
Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 
W.  B.  Saunders  Co. 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Co. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
Ginn  &  Co. 

Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 
W.  B.  Saunders  Co. 
D.  Appleton  Co. 

Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 


*Allen 

Civics  and  Health 

♦Allen 

Home,    School   and   Va- 

cation 

Ayres 

Open-Air  Schools 

Bandler 

The  Expectant  Mother 

*Bryant 

School  Feeding 

Burks 

Health  and  the  School 

Curtis 

Play  and  Recreation 

Campbell 

Practical  Motherhood 

♦Dennett 

The  Healthy  Baby 

Griffith 

Care  of  the  Baby 

*Holt 

Care    and    Feeding    of 

Children 

♦Hutchinson 

We  and  Our  Children 

270 


FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 


*Lee 
Offner 
*Oppenlieim 

*0'Shea  & 
Kellogg 

*0'Sliea  & 
Kellogg 

*0'Sliea  & 
Kellogg 

♦Patrick 


*Peabody 


*Rapeer 
*Read 
Rowe 


Sadler 


Play  in  Education  The  Macmillan  Co. 

Mental  Fatigue  Warwick  &  York 

Care    of    the    Child    in  The  Macmillan  Co, 

Health 

Health  Habits  The  Macmillan  Co. 

Health  and  Cleanliness  The  Macmillan  Co. 

The  Body  in  Health  The  Macmillan  Co. 


Psychology   of   Relaxa-  Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

tion 
Education  in  the  Home,   Swan,      Sonnenschein 

the  Kindergarten  and       Co. 

the  Primary  School 
Educational  Hygiene        Chas.  Scribner's  Sons 
Mothercraft  Manual  Little,  Brown  &  Co. 

The  Physical  Nature  of  The  Macmillan  Co. 

the  Child  and  How  to 

Study  it 
Physiology  of  Faith  and  A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 

Fear 
Stearns  cfal.  Types    of    Schools    for  Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 

Boys 
Terman  The     Hygiene     of    the  Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

School  Child 
*TyIer  Growth  and  Education     Houghton  Miflin  Co. 


INTELLECTUAL   DEVELOPMENT   AND   WELFARE 


*Burbank 

Colvin  & 
Bagley 
*Gesell 

*James 
*Kirkpatrick 

Major 

O'Shea 

*Shinn 
*Stoner 
*Swift 
*Terman 


The    Training    of    the   The  Century  Co. 

Human  Plant 
Human  Behavior 


The  Normal  Child  and 

Primary  Education 
Talks  to  Teachers,  etc. 
Fundamentals   of  Child 

Study 
First    Steps    in   Mental 

Growth 
Linguistic   Development 

and  Education 
The  Biography  of  a  Baby 
Natural  Education 
Learning  by  Doing 
The  Measurement  of  In- 
telligence 


The  Macmillan  Co. 

Ginn  &  Company 

Henry  Holt  &  Co. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 

The  Macmillan  Co. 

The  Macmillan  Co. 

Houghton  Miflin  Co. 
Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 
Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 
Houghton  Miflin  Co. 


BOOKS  ON  CHILD  TRAINING 


271 


EMOTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  AND  WELFARE 


*0'Shea 

Sadler 
Seashore 
*Sully 


Social  Development  and    Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

Education 
Worry  and  Nervousness 
Psychology  in  Daily  Life 
Studies  of  Childhood 


A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 


E 


MORAL  DEVELOPMENT  AND  TRAINING 


Abbott 
Adler 

Bagley 
*Bimey 
*Cabot 

Forbush 

George 

Griggs 
*Healy 

Holmes 

Morehouse 

*Mumford 
*Puffer 

Rousseau 

Rugh 

*Schoft 
Sisson 
*Sneath  & 
Hodges 
*Spencer 

*Weimar 


On  the  Training  of  Par- 
ents 

Moral  Instruction  of 
Children 

School  Discipline 

Childhood 

Ethics  for  Children 

The  Coming  Generation 

The  Junior  Republic 

Moral  Education 

Honesty 

The  Principles  of  Char- 
acter Making 

The  Discipline  of  the 
School 

The  Dawn  of  Character 

The  Boy  and  His  Gang 

£mile 

Moral  Training  in  the 
Public  School 

The  Wayward  Child 

Essentials  of  Character 

Moral  Training  in  the 
School  and  the  Home 

Education  (Chap,  on 
Moral  Instruction) 

The  Way  to  the  Heart 
of  the  Pupil 


Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

The  Macmillan  Co. 
F.  A.  Stokes  Co. 
Houghton  Miflin  Co. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
B.  W.  Huebsch 
Bobbs-Merrlll   Co. 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Co. 

D.  C.  Heath 

Longmans  Green  &  Co. 
Houghton  Miflin  Co. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
Ginn  &  Company 

Bobbs-Merrill   Co. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 

Hurst  &  Co. 

The  Macmillan  Co. 


SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  AND  TRAINING 

Cooley  Human  Nature  and  the    Chas.  Scribner's  Sons 

Social  Order 
*Elsom  &  Social  Games  and  Group    J.  B.  Lippincott  Co. 

Trilling  Dances 


272 


FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 


*Pisher 

Self-Reliance 

Groos 

The  Play  of  Man 

Mangold 

Child  Problems 

O'Shea 

Social  Development  and 

Education 

*Scott 

Social  Education 

White 

Book  of  Children's  Par- 

ties 

Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 
Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

Ginn  &  Company 
The  Century  Co. 


SCHOOL  AND  HOME  EDUCATION 


♦Andrews         The  Girl  of  To-morrow 
in  "The  School  of  To- 
morrow" 
Bancroft  Games    for     the     Play- 

ground, Home,  School 
and  Gymnasium 
*Berle  The  School  in  the  Home 

Cook  &  The     Child     and     His 

O'Shea  Spelling 

*Dean  The  Boy  of  To-morrow 

in  "The  School  of  To- 
morrow" 
Dewey  The  School  and  Society 

*Dewey  The  Schools  of  To-mor- 

row 
Fisher  A  Montessorl  Mother 

*Hodge  Nature  Study  and  Life 

*Holmes  Backward  Children 

Johnson  Education  by  Plays  and 

Games 
Locke  Some     Thoughts     Con- 

cerning Education 
♦Montessorl      The  Montessorl  Method 
♦O'Shea  Every-day  Problems  in 

Teaching 
O'Shea  (Editor)      The     World 

Book;  Organized 
Knowledge  in  Story 
and  Picture  (contains 
120  articles  on  teach- 
ing), 10  vols. 
♦O'Shea  Dynamic      Factors      in 

Education 
Parsons  Children's   Gardens   for 

Pleasure,  Health  and 
Education 


Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 


Moffat,  Yard  &  Co. 
Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 

Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 


Univ.  of  Chicago  Press 
The  Macmillan  Co. 

Henry  Holt  &  Co. 
Ginn  &  Company 
Bobbs-Merrill   Co. 
Ginn  &  Company 

Cambridge   University 

Press 
F.  A.  Stokes  Co. 
Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 

Hanson  Bellows  Co. 


The  Macmillan  Co. 
Sturgis  &  Walton 


BOOKS  ON  CHILD  TRAINING 


273 


*Smith  The  Homemade  Kinder- 

garten 
*Spencer  Education 

*Stoner  Natural  Education 

Weeks  The    Education    of   To- 

morrow 
Weeks  The  People's  School 

^Wilson  Motivation     of     School 

Work 

H 


Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

Hurst  &  Co. 
Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 
Sturgis  &  Walton 

Houghton  Miflin  Co. 
Houghton  Miflin  Co. 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Bushnell  Christian  Nurture  Chas.   Scribner's  Sons 

Coe  Education    in    Religion    Fleming  H.  Revell  Co. 

and  Morals 
*Hodges  Training  of  Children  in    D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

Religion 
*MoxIey  Girlhood  and  Character    Abingdon  Press 

*St.  John  Stories  and  Story  Tell-    The  Pilgrim  Press 

ing 

I 

CHILD   LIFE   AND   EDUCATION  UNDER  VARYING 
CONDITIONS 

Bigelow  Sex  Education  The  Macmillan  Co. 

♦Breckinridge  The    Delinquent    Child  Survey  Associates,  Inc. 

&  Abbott  and  the  Home 

*  Carney  Country    Life    and    the  Row,  Peterson  &  Co. 

Country  School 

Hall  &  Betts    Better  Rural  Schools  Bobbs-Merrill   Co. 

Hutton  A  Boy  I  Knew,  and  Four  Harper  &  Bros. 

Dogs 

*Johnston         Home   Occupations   for  G.  W.  Jacobs  &  Co. 

Boys  and  Girls 

Scripture        Stuttering  and  Lisping  The  Macmillan  Co. 

Thorndike       Individuality  Houghton  Miflin  Co. 


GENERAL  TRAITS  AND  NEEDS  OF  CHILDHOOD 

Ayres  Laggards  in  our  Schools  Survey  Associates,  Inc. 

Bates  &  Orr    Pageants  and  Pageantry  Ginn  &  Company 

*Bryant  How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Houghton  Miflin  Co. 

Children 

*Gulick  The    Healthful    Art    of  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 

Dancing 


274 


FIRST  STEPS  IN  CHILD  TRAINING 


Hartt 

The  People  at  Play 

*Holmes 

The  Conservation  of  the 

Child 

*Herts 

The    Children's    Educa- 

tional Theatre 

*HaiTison 

Misunderstood  Children 

Needham 

Folk  Festivals 

Shields 

The  Making  and  Unmak- 

ing of  a  Dullard 

Simons  &  Orr  Dramatization 

*Welsh 

Stories  Children  Love 

*Wyche 

Some  Great  Stories  and 

How  to  Tell  Them 

Houghton  Miflin  &  Co. 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Co. 

Harper  &  Bros. 

The  Century  Co. 
B.  W.  Huehsch 
Catholic      Educational 

Press 
Scott,  Forsman  &  Co. 
Dodge  Publishing  Co. 
Newson  &  Co. 


INDEX 

Accurate  Reporting,  training  in 264-265 

Adults,  subject  to  same  errors  as  children 233 

Alexander,  views  on  importance  of  posture 61-52 

Anger,  treatment  of 88-90 

nipping  a  tantrum  in  the  bud 90-92 

in  teaching  242 

Argumentation,  passion  to  win  in 148-149 

Aristotle,    on    the   benefits   derived    by   children    from 

crying    192 

"Baby  Talk"   157-159 

and  speech  defects 159-160 

Backward  Children,  treatment  of 85-88 

Ball,  as  child's  plaything 222-223 

as  used  in  the  kindergarten 246-247 

Beads,  as  used  in  the  kindergarten 248 

Bells,  as  playthings  for  child 220-222 

Big  Tools,  for  small  hands 255-256 

Bill-of-Fare,  when  the  teeth  appear 39-41 

Books,  on  child  training 268-274 

"Bossing,"  among  members  of  a  family 137-139 

Breaking  Objects,  in  childhood 223-224 

"Brotherly    Love,"    as    revealed    in    the    relations    of 

brothers  and  sisters 133-136 

rivalry  in  a  family 136-137 

a  boy  will  not  be  "bossed"  by  a  brother 137-138 

Building  Blocks,  as  ministering  to  the  child's  needs  in 

play    228-229 

Callousness,  development  of  in  ethical  training 92 

"Carelessness,"  one  cause  of • 103 

Child,  must  be  made  socially  efficient 122-123 

Children's  Errors,  often  corrected  by  themselves  if  let 

alone  , 241-242 

Children's  Rights,  in  the  city 115-119 

adjustment  of  interests  of  child  and  adult 117-119 

Child's  Point  of  View,  in  ethical  training 102-104 

to  be  taken  account  of  in  teaching 235-236 

City,  handicaps  sense  development  of  child 29-30 

275 


276  INDEX 

City  Life,  likely  to  over-excite  children 56-57 

reducing  nervous  strain  in 57-58 

in  relation  to  hygiene  of  the  foot 63-65 

in  relation  to  the  development  of  endurance 75-76 

Classical  Writers,  advise  against  use  of  rod 197-198 

Columbus,  story  of,  dramatized  by  children 266 

Commands,  nature's  commands  to  the  child 77-78 

avoid  direct   92-95 

deferred    100-102 

long-range   105-107 

Community  Hygiene,  in  preserving  the  child's  health..     75-76 

Companions,  choosing 142-143 

neither  wealth  nor  social  station  is  considered 143-144 

adults  as  companions  of  the  young 144-146 

Companionship,  needed  by  nervous  children 252-253 

Condiments,  in  a  child's  diet 42-43 

Concentration,  training  of 34-35 

Concreteness,  in  ethical  teaching 82-83 

Consistency,  in  ethical  teaching 82-83 

Constructive  Activities,  in  the  kindergarten 249-250 

kindergarten  for  nervous  children 250-252 

nervous  children  need  companionship 252-253 

Contention,  between  parents  and  children 149-150 

Coordination,  conditions  that  prevent 257-258 

child  should  not  be  pushed  in 258-259 

Corporal  Punishment,  abolition  of 197-201 

classical  writers  advise  against  use  of  rod 197-198 

forbidden  in  France 198-199 

in  the  home 201-205 

Crying,  treatment  of 191-193 

neighbors  do  not  interfere 193-194 

Cues,  from  facial  expression  in  gaining  meanings 168-169 


Decay,  as  induced  by  disuse 69-70 

Deferred   Commands,   as  source  of  trouble   in   ethical 

training   100-102 

Dietetic  Habits  (see  Health  Training). 

Different  Ages,  different  foods  for 38-39 

Disagreement,  between  parents  in  ethical  training 107-109 

"Disobedience,"  one  cause  of 104 

Disuse,  leads  to  decay 69-70 

Doll,  in  a  child's  play 232-233 

elaborately  made  up  dolls 233 

Dramatic  Instinct,  in  ethical  training 95-96 

Dramatics,  for  children 265-267 

Dramatization,  child's  love  of 262 

Drum,  as  child's  plaything 220-222 


INDEX  277 

Emulation,  in  ethical  training 96-97 

Errors  in  Speech,  correcting 161-163 

Ethical  Lessons,  concrete  and  consistent 82-83 

Ethical  Training,  first  steps  in 77-119 

nature's  commands  to  the  child 77-79 

the  first  requirement  in  ethical  training 79-82 

ethical  lessons  must  be  concrete  and  consistent. . . .     82-83 

regularity  in  training 83-85 

the  treatment  of  backward  children 85-88 

the  treatment  of  anger 88-90 

nipping  a  tantrum  in  the  bud 90-92 

avoid  the  direct  command 92-95 

make  use  of  the  dramatic  instinct 95-97 

one  cause  of  obstinacy 98-100 

deferred  commands 100-102 

taking  the  child's  point  of  view 102-104 

nagging 104-105 

long-range  commands  105-107 

when  parents  disagree 107-109 

correcting  faults  by  substitution 109-110 

learning  to  serve 110-112 

training  character  in  the  schoolroom 112-113 

pets  for  the  boy  and  the  girl 113-115 

children's  rights  in  the  city 115-117 

how  the  problem  can  be  solved 117-119 

Etiquette,  teaching  at  table 243-244 

Exposure,  evil  results  of 74-75 

Family,  rivalry  in 136-137 

Fastidious,  making  children  too 45-46 

Faults,  to  be  avoided  in  social  training 127-128 

First  Requirement,  in  ethical  training 79-82 

First  Steps,  in  intellectual  training 13-35 

in  health  training 36-76 

in  ethical  training 77-119 

in  social  training 120-154 

in  language  training 155-186 

in  training  disposition 186-214 

in  home  instruction 235-267 

Foot,  as  affecting  posture 62-63 

hygiene  of  walking  on  hard  surfaces 63-65 

girls  as  chief  sufferers  from  neglect  of  foot  hygiene.     65-66 

France,  corporal  punishment  forbidden  in 198-199 

Free  Play,  essential  in  social  education 125-127 

Gentle  Measures,  in  training  disposition 195-196 

Gesture,  in  mastering  speech 172-173 

"Gifts,"  as  used  in  the  kindergarten 247-248 


278  INDEX 

Girls,  as  chief  sufferers  from  neglect  of  foot  hygiene. . .     65-66 

Give-and-Take,  in  learning  ethical  lessons 79-82 

in  social  training 127-128 

Grammatical  Errors,  common  in  child  speech 177-179 

Grammatical  Relations,  the  child's  diflBcultv  in  master- 
ing   177-180 

Greek  Stories,  dramatized  by  children 266 

Habits,  dietetic 36-37 

indoor 53-54 

outdoor    54-55 

that  weaken  resistance 66-69 

rhythm  in 190-191 

cannot  be  broken  suddenly 194-195 

Hardening  the  Body,  by  use  of  cold  water 49-52 

conditions  to  be  observed  in  giving  the  bath 52 

Harshness,  versus  indulgence  in  social  training 128-129 

Health  Training,  first  steps  in 36-76 

dietetic  habits  of  chief  importance 36-37 

different  uses  of  food 37-38 

different  foods  for  different  ages 38-39 

the  bill-of-fare  when  the  teeth  appear 39-41 

sugar  should  be  used  sparingly 41-42 

no  condiments  in  a  child's  food 42-43 

over-eating  43-45 

making  children  too  fastidious 45-46 

meat  not  the  best  food  for  children 46-48 

stimulating  beverages   48-49 

hardening  the  body  49-53 

the  indoor  habit 53-54 

the  outdoor  habit  54-55 

children  are  easily  over-excited 55-56 

city  life  likely  to  over-excite  children 56-57 

reducing  nervous  strain  in  the  city 57-58 

sleep  as  a  restorer  of  nervous  health 58-59 

conditions  that  disturb  sleep 59-60 

neglect  of  an  important  health  factor 61-62 

posture  affected  by  the  development  of  the  foot 62-63 

life  in  the  city  gives  rise  to  new  problems 63-65 

girls  are  the  chief  sufferers 65-66 

habits  that  weaken  resistance 66-69 

a  natural  law, — disuse  leads  to  decay 69-70 

the  intellectual  vs.  the  physical 70-71 

the  law  works  both  ways 72 

physical  results  of  "refined"  living 72-74 

the  solution  of  the  problem 75-76 

Holding  an  Infant,  different  modes  of 188-189 

Home  Instruction,  first  steps  in 235-267 

taking  the  child's  point  of  view 235-236 


INDEX  279 

the  mistake  of  talking  too  much 237-238 

adults  make  the  same  errors  as  children 238 

example  of  bad  teaching 238-241 

children  will  often  correct  their  own  errors 241-242 

anger    242 

teaching  etiquette   243-244 

kindergarten  methods  in  the  home 244-245 

the  first  requirement  in  kindergarten  methods 245-246 

the  ball  246-247 

the  "gifts,"   247-249 

constructive  activities 249-250 

the  kindergarten  for  nervous  children 250-252 

nervous  children  need  companionship 252-253 

first  steps  in  writing 253-255 

big  tools  for  small  hands 255-256 

the  child  does  not  lack  strength 256-257 

conditions  that  prevent  coordination 257-258 

the  child  should  not  be  pushed  in  the  development  of 

coordination    258-260 

in  the  world  of  make  believe 260-262 

the  child  dramatizes  the  life  around  him 262 

the  love  of  symbolism 262-264 

training  in  accurate  reporting 264 

dramatics  for  children 265 

Hunger,  for  social  contact 132-133 

primary  mental  hungers 215-220 

Independence,  vs.  captiousness 140-141 

Individual  Differences,  in  learning  language 180-185 

Indoor  Habit   53-54 

Indulgence,  vs.  harshness  in  social  training 128-129 

Infant,  effect  on  of  different  modes  of  holding 188-189 

should  be  let  alone  by  strangers 189-190 

Instinct,  vs.  intelligence 18-19 

Intellectual  Training,  first  steps  in 13-35 

,     first  signs  of  intelligence 13-14 

sense  hunger 14-15 

test  of  intelligence 15-16 

degree  of  intelligence  at  different  ages 16-17 

instinct  vs.  intelligence 18-19 

the  child's  memory 19-20 

what  a  child  remembers 20-22 

why  adults  misunderstand  children 22-23 

practical  suggestions  23-24 

impressing  commands  24-25 

treatment  of  a  bad  memory 25-26 

the  primary  sense 26-29 

how  the  city  interferes  with  development 29-31 . 


280  INDEX 

self-helpfulness   31-33 

the  role  of  play 33-34 

training  in  concentration 34-35 

Intelligence,   first  signs   of 13-14 

degree  of  at  different  ages 16-17 

vs.  instinct    18-19 

Imitation,  in  the  child's  play  activities 227-228 

Kindergarten  Methods,  in  the  home 244-245 

first  requirement    245-246 

the  ball  as  used  in  the  kindergarten 246-247 

"gifts" 247-248 

peg-board 248-249 

Language  Training,  first  steps  in 155-186 

voice  play  and  learning  to  speak 155-156 

the  easier  sounds  are  first  made 156-157 

"baby  talk"   157-158 

"baby  talk"  and  speech  defects 159-160 

easy  and  difficult  sounds 160-161 

correcting  errors  in  speech 161-163 

learning  the  meanings  of  words 163-165 

of  supreme  importance 165-167 

helping  the  child  to  learn  meanings 167-168 

young  children  get  their  cues  from  facial  expression.  168-169 

single-word  sentences 170-171 

how  sentences  are  built  up 171-173 

the  use  of  gesture,  etc 173-174 

children  can  learn  to  speak  only  by  speaking 174-175 

difficult  task  to  master  languages 175-177 

the  child  meets  his  chief  difficulties  in  grammatical 

relations   177-180 

individual  differences  in  learning  language 180-185 

Leader,  passion  to  be 151-154 

Learning  Language,  individual  differences  in 180-185 

Learning  to  Speak,  and  voice  play 155-157 

only  by  speaking 174-175 

an  exceedingly  difficult  task 175-180 

difficulties  in  mastering  grammatical  relations 177-180 

Long-range  Commands 105-107 

Make  Believe,  in  the  world  of 260-264 

child  dramatizes  life  around  him 262 

the  child's  love  of  symbolism 262-264 

Man,  as  the  social  animal 120-121 

Meaning  of  Words,  learning  the 163-165 

of  supreme  importance 165-166 

helping  the  child 167 


INDEX  281 

Meat,  in  children's  diet 46-47 

Mechanical  Toys,  the  value  of 231-232 

Memory,  the  child's 19-20 

what  a  child  remembers 20-22 

misunderstanding  children  in  regard  to  memory . . .  22-23 

impressing  commands  so  they  will  persist  in  memory  24-25 

treatment  of  a  defective  memory 25-26 

Military  Schools,  daily  program  in 84-85 

Nagging,  in  ethical  training 104-105 

Neighbors,  should  not  interfere  when  parents  are  train- 
ing their  children 193-194 

Nervous  Children,  helped  in  the  kindergarten 250-252 

need  companionship   252-253 

Nervous  Strain,  in  the  city 57 

"Obstinacy,"  one  cause  of 98-100 

Outdoor  Habit  54-55 

Over-eating   43-44 

Over-excitement,  children  are  subject  to 55-56 

city  life  over-excites  children 56-57 

reducing  nervous  strain  in  the  city \  .  57-58 

sleep  as  a  restorer  of  nervous  health ." 58-59 

conditions  that  disturb  sleep 59-60 

Over-indulgence,  the  danger  of 209-211 

Parents,  effect  of  disagreement  between  in  ethical  train- 
ing     107-109 

who  hector  one  another 139-140 

"Parties,"  in  social  training 130-132 

Passion,  to  win  in  contests 146-148 

to  win  in  argumentation 148-149 

making  good  use  of  passion  to  win 150-151 

to  be  a  leader 151-154 

Peg  Board,  as  used  in  the  kindergarten 248 

Pets,  value  of  in  ethical  training 113-115 

Physical,   vs.   intellectual 70-71 

Pioneer  Life,  in  relation  to  the  development  of  endur- 
ance       75-76 

Play,  the  role  of  in  development 33-34 

Play  Things  (See  Toys  and  Playthings).      • 

Posture,  as  affected  by  development  of  the  foot 62-63 

Punishment,  danger  of  too  much 205-206 

"Refined"  Living,  in  relation  to  development  of  resist- 
ance        72-74 

results  of  neglect  or  too  great  exposure 74-75 

Regularity,  in  ethical  training 83-85 

Representation,  materials  needed  for  in  child's  play ...  229-230 


282  INDEX 

Resistance,  weakening  by  bad  habits 66-69 

Rhythm,  in  habits  in  relation  to  training  disposition ..  190-191 

Riding,  the  love  of  in  childhood 230-231 

Rivalry,  in  a  family 136-137 

Rod,  classical  writers  advise  against  use  of 197-198 

Sand-pile,  as  source  of  enjoyment  to  the  child 226-227 

Sand-table  (See  Sand-pile). 

Schoolroom,  training  character  in 112-113 

Self-helpfulness,  training  for 31-33 

play  as  favoring  the  development  of 33-34 

Sense  Development,  as  handicapped  in  city  life 29-31 

Sense  Hunger,  in  a  child 14-15 

Sentences,  how  built  up 171-173 

Serve,  learning  to,  in  ethical  training 110-112 

Single- word  Sentences,  first  used  by  young  children 170-171 

Skating,  the  love  of  in  childhood 230-231 

Sleep,  as  a  restorer  of  nervous  health 58-59 

conditions  that  disturb 59-60 

Sliding,  the  love  of  In  childhood 230-231 

Social  Animal,  man  as  distinguished  from  other  animals.120-121 
Social  Contact,  hunger  for,  in  the  child's  development.  .132-133 

Social  Efficiency,  the  child  must  be  trained  in 122-123 

Social   Station,   as   a  consideration   in   choosing   com- 
panions    143-144 

Social  Training,  first  steps  in 120-154 

man  as  the  social  animal 120-121 

solitary  confinement 122 

the  child  must  be  made  socially  efficient 122-123 

social  training  should  begin  early 124-125 

the  chief  need  of  the  child 125-127 

first  fault  to  be  avoided 127-128 

harshness  vs.  indulgence  in  social  training 128-129 

second  fault  to  be  avoided 129-130 

third  fault  to  be  avoided 130-132 

hunger  for  social  contact 132-133 

"brotherly  love" 133-136 

rivalry  in  a  family 136-137 

a  boy  will  not  endure  being  "bossed"  by  a  brother.  .137-139 

when  parents  hector  one  another 139-140 

independence  vs.  captiousness 140-141 

choosing  companions 142-143 

neither  wealth  nor  social  station  is  considered  in 

choosing  companions  143-144 

adults  as  companions  of  the  young 144-146 

the  child's  passion  to  win  in  arguments 148-149 

contest  between  parents  and  children 149-150 

turning  the  passion  to  good  use 150-151 

the  passion  to  be  a  leader 151-154 


INDEX  283 

Solitary  Confinement,  as  the  most  acute  form  of  punish- 
ment            122 

Sounds,  easy,  first  made  in  learning  to  speak 156-157 

difficult    160-161 

Speech,  correcting  errors  in 161-163 

Spoiled    Child    211-213 

Stimulating  Beverages,  in  child's  diet 48-49 

Strangers,  should  let  young  children  alone 189-190 

Substitution,  as  a  method  of  correcting  faults 109-110 

Sugar,  in  a  child's  diet 41-42 

Symbolism,  child's  love  of 262-264 

Sympathy,  in  the  child's  social  training 129-130 


Talking,  as  a  handicap  in  teaching  when  excessive 237-238 

Tantrum,  nipping  In  the  bud 90-92 

Teaching,  example  of  defective 238-240 

Tearing,  in  childhood 224-225 

Teeth,  bill-of-fare  when  teeth  appear 39-41 

Temperament,  when  formed 186-188 

The  Foot,  importance  in  relation  to  health 61-62 

Throwing,  In  childhood 225-226 

"Tin  Soldiers,"  in  a  boy's  play 233-234 

Touch,  as  the  primary  sense 26-28 

Toys  and  Playthings 215-234 

primary  mental  hungers 215-220 

the  drum  and  bells 220-222 

the  ball  222-223 

breaking,  tearing,  throwing  activities 223-226 

a  sand-pile  or  sand-table 226-227 

the  imitative  impulse 227-228 

building  blocks 228-229 

materials  for  representation 229-230 

riding,  sliding,  skating 230-231 

the  value  of  mechanical  tovs 231-232 

the  doll 232-233 

tin  soldiers  for  the  boy 233-234 

Training,  intellectual 13-35 

for  self-helpfulness   31-33 

in  concentration   34-35 

health  36-76 

ethical   77-119 

regularity  In 183-185 

in  the  schoolroom 112-113 

social 120-154 

language 155-156 

disposition 186-214 

Training  Character,  in  schoolroom 112-113 


284  INDEX 

Training  Disposition,  first  steps  in 186-214 

when  temperament  is  formed 186-188 

the  manner  of  holding  an  infant 188-189 

strangers  should  let  children  alone. . . ." 189-190 

rhythm  in  habits 190-191 

the  treatment  of  crying 191-193 

neighbors  should  not  interfere 193-194 

habits  cannot  be  broken  suddenly 194-195 

gentle  measures  in  training  disposition 195-196 

abolition  of  corporal  punishment 197 

classical  writers  against  use  of  rod 197-198 

physical  force  in  the  home 201-205 

danger  of  too  much  repression  and  punishment 205-206 

ruining  a  child's  disposition 206-208 

"thorns  in  the  flesh," 208-209 

danger  of  over-indulgence 209-211 

spoiled  child 211-213 

ruining  disposition  by  too  much  attention 213-214 

Voice  Play,  and  learning  to  speak 155-157 

Wealth,  as  a  consideration  in  choosing  companions 143-144 

Win,  child's  passion  to 146-148 

in  argumentation   . : 148-149 

contest  between  parents  and  children 149-150 

turning  the  passion  to  good  use 150-151 

Words,  must  be  used,  not  simply  Ueard  in  learning  the 

meaning  of 167-168 

gaining  meaning  from  facial  expression 168-169 

Writing    253-260 

big  tools  for  small  hands 255-256 

conditions  that  prevent  coordination 257-258 

child  should  not  be  pushed  in  use  of  coordination.  .258-260 


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